Myths and Half-Truths
by redheadedninja
Summary: Two best friends find themselves in Arda, also known as Middle Earth, just in time for a surprised wizard to drag them along to meet a nervous hobbit, a group of interesting dwarves, and their grumpy leader.
1. Myths and Half-Truths

**Alrighty, I'm a first time writer, but long time reader, of fanfiction. I thought that possibly I would try my hand at a Harry Potter/ Hobbit crossover, because I just saw the Hobbit movie and I love love love Harry Potter. I'm hoping that this will be a multi-chapter piece and that college life will not mess me over too much :D.**

Plus, I have no idea how to work this whole fanfiction website. I've never experienced it from the author's side. It's exciting!

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the wonderful characters created by JK Rowling or JRR Tolkien. Any characters not recognized as theirs are mine :).**

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Chapter One

"Myths and Half-truths"

_The library was cool and quiet, with little pockets of students sitting at the tables scattered throughout. It was a Saturday evening in mid-September and while tests had not yet started, the more studious students of the school had already begun studying. It goes without saying that many of the students were Ravenclaws, eager to once again be able to absorb all the knowledge the Hogwarts library could offer them._

_In a far back table, Arianna sat with her head on her hand and an open book in front of her. Anyone glancing over would think that the Ravenclaw was showing a lack of attention to her work but in actuality, she had just acquired a few characteristics from her best friend, Isabella. Isabella was a Gryffindor, who displayed such surprising (or not-so-surprising) distaste for studying and book work that she would always study with her head on her hand, to best enable a quick nap (if an assignment took longer than 10 minutes to complete). When it was pointed out to Arianna that she was close to becoming like her friend in matters of study, she glanced up and stated that she was "only holding my head in case it became too full and heavy with knowledge for me to keep it on my shoulders, but thank you for your un-solicited concern" and then resumed reading in peace. The first year had been quite taken aback, thinking themselves to have been witty, and had to be dragged away by their silently laughing friends._

_The two girls were completely different. While Isabella was tall and willowy, with straight jet black hair and an eye for trouble, Arianna was shorter and while no one would call her chubby, they probably wouldn't call her skinny either. She liked to refer to herself as "proportionate" and that seemed to sum her up nicely. Her hair was a beautiful copper red with waves and less-defined curls that she normally had pulled back in a bun or a ponytail to keep it out of her face. Where Isabella was mischievous, excitable and hyper, Arianna was calm, sarcastic, and steadfast. Together they balanced each other out; Isabella refusing to let Arianna be serious all the time and Arianna making sure Isabella actually thought before acting. Or speaking._

* * *

Arianna sighed, and turned the page of the dusty textbook. She really wished that Professor Binns hadn't decided that this weekend was the one where the 7th years were to pick the topics for their final year papers. She also wished that it had been as easy for her to pick a topic as it had been for Isabella, who had decided that the best way to earn a good grade was to write about something near and dear to Professor Binns ghostly heart: Goblin Wars. More specifically, Isabella was writing a dramatic paper re-enactment of Snark the Vicious's fall from power during the 2nd Dynasty, due to him eating a funny mushroom that caused him run around naked while firing daisies at the goblin nobles as if they were arrows. Apparently, while no harm had been done to the nobles, they got the jist of what ol' Snarky was doing and plotted his demise. After his death, the nobles attempted to change his name from "the Vicious" to "the Vivacious", due to his lack of clothing for the better part of a week (and including his death). Apparently, it takes goblins several hundred years to decide on name changes, as there is still a movement for "Snark the Vivacious" in present times. Isabella planned to turn the conclusion of her paper into a debate, in favor of the name change and in hopes of adding some "spice" as she called it, to the paper.

The dilemma for Arianna was that she could not find something that she _didn't_ want to write about. Well, besides the Goblin Wars. She was interested in the Witch Hunts and Inquisition, the Great Battle of 1273, the research of Nobbin the Awkward on fairy genes influencing present goblin lineage (she wasn't completely clear on the details of his discovery but, it interested her all the same) and several other treasures her textbooks held. Barely concealing another sigh of disgust, Arianna resisted the urge to flip madly throughout the book in front of her and play "Eenie Meenie Miny Moe" to pick a topic. Standing up, she closed her book and carried it back over to the shelf from where she had found it. Scanning the book titles, her eyes settled on a binding that she must have skipped over before. Grabbing the book and searching for the title, she finally found one on the first page. It simply read "Myths and Half-Truths". Intrigued and hoping that it might have something for her to write her paper about, she flipped to a random page and began to read:

_"While little has actually been proven of the existence of other worlds, in however similar or dissimilar fashion to our own, it has been noted that wizards and witches have turned up missing, only to reappear years later with fantastical stories of other lands. Skeptics believe them to only have been victims of a crime, such as slave trading, and then of an extreme memory charm. However, some of the stories seem to take place in similar worlds, as if they had visited the same exact place, just at different times. Many of the "victims", as they have become referred as, state that they remember an archway being the last thing they saw before waking up in the strange lands. Again, it has been noted that many notorious and dangerous wizards live in uniquely styled castles and mansions, with plenty of archways abound, thus making the kidnapping theories seem more likely than inter-world travels."_

"There you are! I should have known you'd be in the library. I gotta show you something that I just found!"

Arianna's head snapped up in surprise and looked at the person that just interrupted her. Isabella stood in front of her, her ebony hair in a high pony tail and her face flushed, as if she had been running around outside. Actually, Arianna thought, she probably was running away from whatever trouble she had just managed to get into. She would never claim that her best friend didn't have a mischievous streak that most of the professors took for foolishness, specifically Professor Snape. He had given Isabella so many detentions in their past 7 years here that only the Weasley twins could boast to having a greater amount, which they did, quite loudly and frequently in the Great Hall, only to land themselves in detention again.

"Seriously, come on!" Isabella said, rushing forward to grab her friend's arm and start dragging her over to her stuff. "You have got to come see what I found when I was running away from Filch!" "And why were you running away from Filch this time? We've only been in school for 3 weeks… do you really want your first detention of the year to be with him?" Arianna asked as she started to grab her bag, still holding on to the book she had just found. She wanted to read it some more later, to determine if it might actually be something she wanted to write her paper about.

"Well…' Isabella took a deep breath, 'Apparently Filch has a soft spot for the suits of armor; he probably imagines himself wearing them or something, I don't know. So, I thought it would be fitting to make them more… appealing. We now have a suit of armor that can cook eggs, one that wears a red polka dot dress and sings "I feel pretty" whenever Filch walks by, and several others that I thought would want to look anatomically correct. And female." Arianna just looked at her friend, wondering how long she worked on that pretty bit of charm work, before bursting out laughing. She immediately received a glare from Madam Pince for disturbing the peace and quiet and tried her best to stifle her giggles. "I cannot believe you did that! Well, actually, I can believe it. But seriously, Filch will skin you if he finds out it was you!" Arianna scolded, after getting control over herself. "He can't prove that it was me, I bribed Peeves to start shouting about the 5th year Slytherins being up to no good in that corridor" Isabella countered. "But still, I ran away and hid for a while, just in case. And while I was hiding I found something so _come on_!"

Checking out her book (and avoiding Madam Pince's eyes), Arianna allowed herself to be dragged towards whatever treasure Isabella thought she had found, hoping beyond hope that it wasn't another damp forgotten dungeon classroom that Isabella thought could be turned into a secret meeting room for plotting pranks.

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**I hope everyone likes it so far!**


	2. Corridors and Archways

**Alright, got the second chapter written! I hope everyone enjoys it :). (I apologize for any spelling or grammar mistakes, I wanted to get this written and posted before going to work so I haven't re-read it completely yet. I will when I get home again).**

**Disclaimer: None of the characters are mine, except for Arianna and Isabella.**

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Chapter 2

Corridors and Archways

Isabella led Arianna downwards, towards the Great Hall where she could hear students eating. She realized that she hadn't eaten anything since breakfast when her stomach let out a large growl. "Can we get something to eat first and then go find what it is you're all excited about?" Arianna asked. "No, we'll sneak into the kitchens later." Isabella whispered, looking around to make sure no professors heard their against-the-rules plan.

"Oh good, I'm glad that this will take so much time to show me, that not only will we miss food, but we'll most likely spend the evening running away from Professor Snape before he can catch us out of bed. And need I remind you that Ravenclaw's tower is much farther away from the kitchens than Gryffindor's, so I'm more likely to get caught than you." Arianna said, rolling her eyes, but not being as annoyed with her friend as one might expect.

"That's the spirit Ari! I knew you had a Gryffindor hidden in you somewhere!" And with that, Isabella picked up her pace, dragging Arianna along behind her.

"Yes well,' grumbled Arianna 'I wish you had a bit more Hufflepuff in you. You don't see them dragging helpless friends anywhere or getting them in trouble. Or at least, they don't let their friends starve away into nothing in pursuit of something silly."

"Goodness you're grumpy; still unable to find a topic for your paper then?"

"No and I only have 8 months to properly research, organize, collect information and then write the paper. I'm running out of time!" Arianna took a deep breath and then...

"Ow! What was that for?" She said, nursing her upper right arm. "You told me that whenever you went off the deep end concerning school, I was to hit you." Isabella stated matter-of-factly.

"I never said that!"

"Did too!"

"What? When did I say that?"

"In my dream a couple days ago. Your subconscious clearly wants me to keep you in check, therefore it's reaching out to me while we're both asleep, hoping that I can help."

"My subconscious? That is the most ridiculous..."

"Hey look, we're here!" Isabella interrupted her friend, thankful that Arianna was unable to finish her sentence.

They had stopped in front of a door, close to the dungeons. The corridor that they were in looked like it wasn't used often and Arianna once again worried that Isabella had found some damp room with moldy armchairs and the idea of a secret place for them to study unbothered. Not that Isabella studied often, the studying was more for Arianna, and she would just sit there and write down pranks and different ways to annoy Filch. And Snape, depending on the number of points lost that day from him. Arianna once again thanked the gods that she wasn't in the same house as her; she hated the thought of her friend losing all her hard earned house points because of a few pranks.

Opening the door, Isabella pushed Arianna into the room, before checking to make sure that they hadn't been followed. The room was actually nicer than expected. It wasn't covered in dust or mold and there was a nice oak desk in the front of the room with some randomly placed arm chairs scattered throughout the room as well. There were two empty book cases, one on either side of the desk, and a small fireplace tucked into the left wall. It had most likely been a teacher's office at one point. All in all, Arianna found it to be very cozy.

"Okay, so I had run in here, hoping that because it was such an unused corridor, and so close to Snape's office, that Filch wouldn't think to look here. I wasn't sure how long I'd be here and just as I started to get bored…"

"So pretty much after about 5 minutes of being in the room" Arianna said with a grin. Isabella made a face at her.

"It was more like 10 minutes missy. Anyway, just as I started to get bored, I put my head down on the desk to take a nap and…" Isabella said and demonstrated how she had been sitting with her head on the desk when all of a sudden, a slight rumbling was felt and the wall behind the desk opened. "Voila!"

"Well," said Arianna, looking very surprised, "that was unexpected."

* * *

Peering into the dark passage, Arianna lit her wand with a quick "Lumos", and saw that it was actually a set of stairs leading farther down into the bowels of the castle. "Kinda cool, isn't it?" said Isabella excitedly. "I ran all around the castle trying to find you so we could go explore it!"

Arianna raised an eyebrow and looked at her best friend. "Yeah, that's not worst idea you've ever had… what if we get hurt? No one knows where we are. What we should do is tell the Headmaster."

"Oh, we'll tell him after we get to explore it first! Don't you want to know what's down there? What if it's an old forgotten library containing all the knowledge of the Hogwarts Four? Or… or maybe it's an ancient potions lab, containing some of the rarest ingredients! Or…" Arianna held up her hand, cutting off her excitable and head-strong friend.

"Or it could be a trap."

"No one sets traps in a school. Come on! Where's your sense of adventure?"

"It's been replaced by common sense, Isabella. This is not a good idea."

"I'll tell you what. If this ends badly, if we run out of here screaming or scared witless, I'll clean your room. You know what a mess your room is."

Arianna thought about it for a moment. It was true she had a mess of a room, with clothes, quills, and spare bits of parchment strewn about willy-nilly. Ever since she was given her "personal space" to escape to for NEWT studying, she hadn't cared as much for keeping her non-school items as organized as she would have liked. She wasn't dirty by any means, just cluttered.

"Alright, deal."

The two girls headed down the stairs, Isabella having lit her wand as well for even more light. The stairs seemed to continue forever, and had a thick coating of dust on them.

_Anyone will be able to see our foot prints_ Arianna thought to herself. _We won't be able to deny having explored it first._

After about 5 minutes of just walking down stairs, they saw a doorway up ahead. Arianna grabbed onto Isabella's arm, not in fear, but to prevent her friend from running through the doorway in her excitement. Cautiously, they peeked their heads through the doorway and saw a lone archway standing in the middle of the room.

Isabella of course, started walking immediately towards the arch, wanting to take in more of it's details. She could see markings etched into the stone, and it seemed to have been made from gray marble. Arianna stepped up in an attempt to read the markings, hoping that they might have clues as to what the arch was.

"Well,' Isabella broke the silence, 'I was expecting something a bit grander... or at least harder to become bored with."

Upon saying the word "harder", which had come out slightly mumbled, the archway came to life. Inside it was a swirling mass of blue, black, and white light, and a wind picked up in the room and seemed to be both pushing and pulling the girls closer to the arch. "Run!" Arianna yelled, trying to reach Isabella to drag her towards the doorway and up the stairs to safety but, no matter how much the girls struggled to get away, they kept being swept back towards the arch. Finally, with a giant gust of wind, they were thrown into the swirling mass of lights.

* * *

Waking up, Arianna looked around. She was sitting in a meadow with Isabella laying face down beside her. She was covered in dirt and her back ached, as if she had been dropped on it. She was unable to see Hogwarts at all, and barely recognized any of the scenery around her. A river could be seen over to her right, with a forest behind it. Hearing Isabella start to wake up, Arianna turned to help her friend sit up, checking to make sure she was unharmed. Seeing that she was fine except for some sore muscles as well, she shook her head.

"You're cleaning my room for a whole year now. And washing my clothes."

Isabella just groaned and nodded.

"Where the heck are we?"

* * *

**I hope everyone is enjoying the story so far. I know it's slow moving but, I like when there's a little bit of a back story before the characters are thrust into a new world. Especially seeing how my characters are OC's, their back stories and personalities are unknown.**

**The girls relationship will be explained a bit more in the next chapter (I'm probably a third of the way done with it) and we'll see why Arianna seems to be a little... snappy towards Isabella. I swear she's really not a jerk!**

**Up next: The girls discover a bit more about where they're not at and we meet Gandalf and Bilbo!**


	3. Wizards and Hobbits

**I am having so much fun writing down this story that I don't even care that I'm sick! No sleep for me! Well, maybe some sleep now that I've posted this chapter. I hope everyone enjoys it!**

**Disclaimer: I'm not making money! None of it is mine, except for Arianna and Isabella!**

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_"You're cleaning my room for a whole year now. And washing my clothes."_

_Isabella just groaned and nodded._

_"Where the heck are we?"_

* * *

She couldn't see the castle anywhere. Normally, you could see at least one of the towers rising towards the sky. Also…

"It's not evening anymore."

"What?" replied Isabella.

"It's not evening anymore. It was just dinner time and now it looks more like mid-morning."

Isabella just looked at her. "So… maybe we were transported to a different time as well as a different area?"

"We shouldn't have been transported anywhere! What the heck are we going to do? We don't even know what direction the castle is to start walking back!" Arianna was freaking out just a tad at this point. She hated not knowing where she was and not being able to fix it.

"We have our wands, what about the 'four point' spell?" Isabella grabbed for her wand that she kept tucked up in her robe sleeve and held it flat out in her hand. "Point me."

The wand started spinning, as if it couldn't make up its mind. After a minute of just watching it spin around, Arianna sat down in a huff and put her head on her knees.

"We're either out of magical range of the castle, or it doesn't exist anymore. Brilliant."

"Well, there's only one thing left to do then."

"And what would that be?"

"We'll follow that dirt road over there and find some people to ask directions on how to get back to Hogwarts."

Looking up, Arianna realized that there was indeed a road to their left. She hadn't noticed it because she was so busy making sure Isabella was alright. It was so exhausting being the older of the two. They had practically grown up together, with Isabella spending close to every day and night at Arianna's house. Isabella's home life hadn't been the best and Arianna didn't mind sharing her room with her best friend. Granted, basically living together made them act more like sisters than best friends, one getting annoyed with the other, and often times ending up in arguments. They never lasted longer than a few hours though, with both girls apologizing and giggling over how silly they acted.

"Alright" Arianna sighed, standing up. "Let's go follow the road."

* * *

They had been walking for a couple hours. Both girls were tired, hungry, thirsty, and covered in dust. Arianna's jeans were dusty from the knee down and her comfortable study shirt was becoming damp with sweat. Isabella's Hogwarts uniform was a complete wreck. Her once white socks now looked a light brown and her black shoes had scuff marks. Her Gryffindor tie was undone and just hanging around her neck, while her robes were hanging through the strap of Arianna's shoulder bag.

"It's the weekend you know" Arianna said, glancing at Isabella. "How come you were wearing your uniform? You always complain about it."

A grin spread on Isabella's face. "Well, a lot of people wear their Hogwarts uniforms on the weekends… so it's easier to blend in when causing trouble. No one can say 'They were wearing a purple collared shirt with a bright green pair of pants'. All the details they've got now are a Hogwarts robe and white socks." Arianna nodded, knowing that Isabella would have been recognized very easily, seeing how she was probably the only one in the world to own pair of bright green pants, let alone pair them with a purple shirt.

"That's quite clever" a chuckling voice said from behind them, "but what's a Hogwarts robe?"

Both girls whipped around, wands in hand. Before them stood an old man leaning casually on a walking stick, which looked like a twisted mass of thick vines all intertwined together. He was dressed all in grey, with a long grey beard, grey hair, and a tall grey hat. Arianna wondered if there was a specific reason for all the grey, or if he was just unable to match clothing colors and thus eliminated the problem altogether.

"Who are you," Isabella demanded "and how long have you been following us?"

"Easy child, I mean you no harm."

"Then why are you following us?" Arianna chimed in, gripping her wand tighter.

"I am not following you, I am following the road. You just happened to be in front of me and walking slower than I, which caused me to become directly behind you. Therefore, I would appreciate it if you would stop looking like you would love nothing more than to poke my eyes out with your sticks" the strange man stated, looking pointedly at Isabella's out stretched wand.

"Oh. Well, we just found them and figured that we would rather get them dirty than any of our other weapons." Arianna looked at Isabella, hoping she caught her bluff and wouldn't say anything. She didn't want the man to think that they were only defending themselves with what he considered to be twigs or that they could do magic. For some reason, announcing that they could do magic just didn't seem like a very bright idea. Thankfully, Isabella agreed because she smiled sheepishly at the man and said "I thought it had looked pretty and wanted to keep it."

"That is quite understandable my dear. As for your first question, my name is Gandalf the Grey and I am travelling to the Shire, which is where this road ends. However, you two do not look like hobbits, nor do you dress like you are from any place that I have been to."_  
_

"Oh? And how many places have you been to?" Isabella's temper was showing and Arianna gave her a look to try and calm her down.

"Why, almost all of them in Middle Earth! Therefore, I find it safe to assume that you are not from any place contained within this land."

"Well, we all know what assuming does. Makes an…ow!" Arianna had stomped on Isabella's foot to keep her from finishing that sentence. She wasn't sure if this Gandalf character knew what "ass" meant and she didn't feel like finding out. She was also unsure if this man was messing with them and she definitely didn't know what a "hobbit" was. Perhaps it was a type of foreign hobo? Being in a foreign country, perhaps Transylvania, could explain why the 'four point' spell was unable to work. Also, the residents here could refer to the country as "Middle Earth" because of it's central-ish location in the European continent. Yes, that seemed to make sense.

She steadfastly ignored the fact that the man had an English accent and could pronounce his "w"'s without any effort.

"You are correct sir, we are not from around here. And we just need some directions to get back. Hogwarts is our home and I'm afraid we miss it greatly. Would you happen to know the way?" She decided that being polite and offering up a little bit of information was the best option in this situation.

"Hogwarts you say? I'm afraid I have never heard of it. I have some friends that might have though; they have been alive for much longer than I and are wise to the ways of the world. I could take you to them, if you would like."

"And this is how we end up dead. Or eaten." muttered Isabella before being elbowed hard in the ribs by Arianna.

"That would be wonderful, thank you."

"Of course, with us travelling together now and you knowing my name, may I at least know what you two refer to yourselves as?" Gandalf asked, looking expectantly between the two girls.

"My name is Arianna and this is Isabella."

"Good, good. A pleasure to meet you Arianna, and you Isabella."

* * *

They followed Gandalf, or "Grey-Grey" as Isabella had taken to calling him when she thought he wasn't listening, as he continued down the road in the same direction they had headed all day.

"We shall first be stopping by the house, actually more like the hill, of a Mr. Bilbo Baggins. There we shall get some food, rest, and possibly some entertainment. Come now, don't dawdle. It's still an hour or two away." Both girls groaned, albeit quietly; they had already been walking longer than either was used to.

Evening was soon falling and Arianna watched the sunset; the crimson, pink and purple sky making her feel strangely happy and content, knowing that if nothing else, sunsets were the same. With the evening sights came another sight: little hills, a whole slew of them, with little windows and doors. There weren't many people about and those that were looked no bigger than children. Glancing down, Arianna noticed that they wore no shoes and had large, hairy feet. Catching up with Gandalf, she whispered to him, asking who and what the people were. Chuckling, he replied that they were Hobbits, also known as Halflings.

"But they don't look like hobos. I thought they were supposed to look like hobos!"

"Pray tell, what exactly is a 'hobo'"

"It's… well… a impolite term referring to a person without a home. Mostly, they just wander around and live where ever. And can be considered to be quite dirty." Arianna explained, embarrassed.

"Then no, hobbits are not these 'hobos' and I would strongly suggest that you not mention any of that to Mr. Baggins. He would be most offended."

Nodding in an attempt to show that she understood, Arianna slowed down and waited for Isabella to catch up with her. Explaining everything Gandalf had just told her, including the friendly advice to not call the hobbits 'hobos', Arianna made sure that Isabella was handling everything alright. She seemed okay, and it wasn't until they reached Bilbo Baggins' front door that she discovered just how well her friend was handling the situation.

Crowded in front of a small green round door was a group of about a half dozen…well… Arianna wasn't sure what they were. Upon asking Gandalf (while remaining in earshot of Isabella so she could hear his answer too) just who these short and bearded men were, she heard Isabella say quite loudly "It's obvious, isn't it?" Everyone turned to look at her, including all of the "mystery men" as Arianna took to calling them, a nervous giggle in her head.

"They're hairy hobbits with shoes!"

_Great, _thought Arianna while taking in the offended looks on the males faces, _they're all going to beat us, hobbits or not._

Before any of them could verbally protest Isabella's statement however, the hobbit's door opened, and in tumbled the "hairy hobbits". Arianna could only assume that the tiny man standing there holding the door open, a look of surprise on his small face, was Bilbo Baggins.

* * *

**Hopefully I didn't offend anyone with my use of the term "hobo". I figured that Arianna would recognize it as slang, and therefore assume that "hobbit" was another term along the lines of "hobo". Wishful thinking perhaps, but I feel like in this sort of situation, everyone would be trying to make as many connections as possible, in order to try and figure out what was going on.**

**Also, I hope everyone likes my portrayal of Gandalf! Let me know if you think I did a good job or if I need to tweak how I write him a little bit.**

**Up next: The girls officially meet Bilbo, learn that the "hairy hobbits" are actually dwarves, and meet a grumpy Thorin who is unimpressed by the "hairy hobbit" description. Isabella says "oops!"**


	4. Fili and Kili

**I'm so sorry for how long it's taken me to update. It's been an insane week and a half-ish. But now I am back in my apartment waiting for school to start and I find I have a ton of free time! So hopefully, the next few chapters will be done in a couple of days :).**

**As always, nothing belongs to me! Even if I wish it did...**

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Chapter 4

Fili and Kili

'Oh.' Arianna thought, 'they're dwarves'. Gandalf had hurriedly explained this to the girls after the dwarves had gone inside, all the while giving both of them slightly annoyed looks. In all honesty, Isabella's assumption that they were just "hairy hobbits" had actually made a little sense to her, as neither one of them had ever met or even heard of a dwarf before. They were perhaps half a foot taller than the hobbit, Bilbo, and almost every single one of them was covered in facial hair. Of all the hobbits that they had glimpsed at, none of them had any facial hair and the hair on their heads was just a bunch of soft curls. The girls had believed that these dwarves were just another subset of Hobbits.

"I suppose we had better apologize" Isabella muttered, half to herself and half to Arianna.

"Yes, I suppose you should." Gandalf stated. "After all, you did offend them. Plus, you need to make a good impression, or they won't let you travel with them. So perhaps, for the sake of getting you to Rivendell, it would be best if neither of you spoke at all, unless introducing yourselves." And with that, Gandalf walked into the hobbit hole.

The two girls looked at each other in confusion. "Gandalf, what's Rivendell?" but Gandalf had either not heard her or pretended not to. Exchanging looks and deciding they might as well just accept their fate (for now), the two girls followed him inside.

"Bilbo,' Gandalf began, 'I found these two wandering on the road and determined them to be lost. They aren't a part of the original company, but I feel that we should bring them with us. I trust you can find some room and food for them as well? And perhaps some extra clothes…" he finished, giving the girls torn and dirty clothes a once over.

"Gandalf, there are 12 dwarves in my kitchen! 12! One of them ate my dinner and the others started raiding my pantry! I'm not sure if I'll have enough food to feed myself, not to mention two more people. You are behind this and I want you to get them out!" Isabella thought the hobbit looked adorable, all flustered. So flustered, in fact, he barely gave Arianna and herself a second glance; chosing instead to focus all of his (what looked like) 3-foot-10 annoyance on the wizard. He was obviously trying to be stern and in charge, but the fact that he only came up to Gandalf's navel ruined the effect. Granted, she acknowledged, he did have a right to be angry. She knew that if 12, now 15, people walked into her house demanding food and a place to sleep, she'd try to kick them out too.

Glancing up, she saw a couple dwarves traipsing out of a room, carrying armfuls of food. 'That, I'm assuming, is the pantry he's so distressed about.' She giggled as she watched 5 more dwarves rush back into the pantry, obviously attempting to clear it completely. "Mr. Baggins, I can assure you that we would be the politest of guests" Isabella heard Arianna say. Rejoining the conversation happening next to her, Isabella nodded vigorously and attempted to put on her politest "I am nothing but an Angel" face.

"Oh, very well. Follow me to the kitchen. Perhaps we can squeeze you in somehow." And looking very resigned to his fate, the hobbit led them through the house.

'Well, Bilbo didn't over exaggerate, that's for certain.' Arianna thought in amazement. 'There is absolutely _no space_ left in this room… or on the table, for that matter.' The room was cramped, looking like it had two tables placed together and an odd mishmash of chairs. The table was covered in food and an occasional dwarf, like the blonde one now that walked across it carrying cups of some sort of drink. 'I bet it's not butterbeer' she thought sadly.

Snapped out of her thoughts, Arianna realized that Bilbo was asking for her and Isabella's names. She also realized that all of the dwarves had started staring at both of them… some with narrowed eyes. 'They really didn't like being called hairy hobbits apparently' she thought, attempting once again not to be slightly amused by the name Isabella had given them. "I apologize Mister Baggins. My name is Arianna and this is Isabella." Arianna managed to bring Isabella in front of her, as if presenting her to the group at large. In fact, Arianna had logically deduced that Isabella was, in fact, a Gryffindor and the one responsible for the remark that had now caused all the dwarves to glare at them and therefore should be the one to handle the situation. Elbowing her friend in the back, Arianna gave her her best McGonagall glance.

"I am _terribly_ sorry about my comment earlier. We both are very inexperienced in the world and now that we are in a much brighter setting, we see that you are all indeed dwarves. In fact, I do not know what overcame me, to believe that you fine gentlemen were anything _but_ dwarves." As both girls were hunched over in the room (it's ceiling was not as high as in the foyer) they also managed to look quite contrite as well. 'Laying it on a little bit thick Isabella' Arianna thought with a slight grimace. Some of the dwarves seemed to accept the apology; a few however, like the bald-headed one with the skull tattoos, still looked slightly murderous. Arianna made a mental note to avoid him if at all possible. However, the blond that had walked on the table earlier and the brunette one sitting next to him had partially concealed smiles on their faces and looked like they were greatly amused by the whole ordeal.

"Apology accepted lassies." was all that was said by a dwarf with white hair as he started eating again. Suddenly, the volume of the room once again picked up, as the dwarves started throwing food to a rather rotund fellow sitting at the end, and cheering when he caught it in his mouth. Bilbo had somehow managed to squeeze the girls in at the table, all the while still looking completely harassed and promised to go find them some decent clothes. Looking around, the girls saw that they were sitting next to the grinning blond and brunette. Leaning slightly forward, the blond stuck out his hand.

"Fili" he said simply, still smiling.

"And Kili" the brunette said, mimicking the other.

"Arianna and Isabella" the two girls said for what felt like the hundredth time that day, shaking both of their hands. With that, the two turned to the table and tried to find some food that hadn't already been eaten.

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**I hope you guys like it!**

**I realize that the dwarves are not setting out with the intention of going to Rivendell but, Gandalf is lol. So I can see him feeling quite confident that they'll get to Rivendell, one way or another. And the girls of course, won't mention it because they really have no idea about what the heck is going on, so he feels safe enough to confide in them. Slightly.**


	5. Songs and Arguments

**Yay! Two chapters in two days! I hope you all enjoy this one. The girls finally meet Thorin and... well... yeah.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the wonderful characters created by JK Rowling or JRR Tolkien. Any characters not recognized as theirs are mine. Also, the song lyrics are not mine, they belong to Jules Bass, who adapted them from the song in the 1977 version of the Hobbit.**

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Chapter 5: Songs and Arguments

The girls learned more about the dwarves as they sat and ate. Balin, who was the one that accepted Isabella's apology, used to be a great warrior. While the girls had no doubt that he was still an exceptional fighter (thoughts of Dumbledore and how deceiving his age versus his power could be led them to this conclusion), he also seemed to be one of the more clever dwarves. Dwalin, the girls found out, was his younger brother. He was also the exact opposite to him when it came to Arianna and Isabella, as he continued to glower at the two. Isabella, being the person she was, would occasional glare back at him, to which Dwalin would let out a low growl. Arianna knew Isabella was just having fun instigating the furious dwarf, much as she had Professor Snape. Elbowing her friend hard, she shot her a warning glance, effectively telling her to _knock it off_.

Oin and Gloin were brothers, as were Bofur and Bifur. Bofur wore a hat with the sides sticking straight out. He seemed rather proud of it too and Arianna couldn't help but giggle a little at the sight of it. Bifur had an ax blade in his head and only seemed to speak in a strange language (Gandalf later explained that it was Khuzdul, the Dwarvish tongue) and gestured about wildly. Bombur, which was the widest of all the dwarves, was the cousin of Bofur and Bifur, and seemed particularly talented at making food disappear. Ori was one of the youngest, and quite bashful it seemed. When Isabella had leaned over to ask him about his fingerless knitted gloves, he had blushed and nearly fallen off his chair in surprise. Nori and Dori were the older brothers of Ori. Dori looked to be the eldest, but Nori had the most interesting hair of all the dwarves. It was divided into three peaks and Arianna decided that she would always be able to pick him out in a crowd.

Fili and Kili turned out to be brothers as well, and nephews of some dwarf named Thorin. The girls liked the two playful brothers immediately and couldn't help but laugh at their antics throughout the meal.

Finally, the majority of the meal had been consumed and the dwarves started trying to clean up the mess. Poor little Bilbo was running around trying to once again establish control on the out-of-control situation. Isabella watched, amused, as he snatched a doily out of the hands of Bofur, who had been using it as a wash cloth. Suddenly, Fili and Kili started throwing plates and bowls around to Dwalin for washing, while Bofur, Gloin, Nori and Dori started banging the silver on the table, clinking it together, and then singing:

_Blunt the knives and bend the forks!__  
__Smash the bottles and burn the corks!__  
__Chip the glasses and crack the plates!__  
__That's what Bilbo Baggins hates _

_Cut the cloth and tread the fat!__  
__Leave the bones on the bedroom mat!__  
__Pour the milk on the pantry floor!__  
__Splash the wine on every door!_

_Dump the crocks in a boiling bowl;__  
__Pound them up with a thumping pole;__  
__And when you've finished, if any are whole,__  
__Send them down the hall to roll!_

_That's what Bilbo Baggins hates!__  
__So, carefully! Carefully with the plates!_

Gandalf was laughing along with Isabella as they watched the dwarves throw Bilbo's mother's dishes around the hobbit's house. Arianna felt bad for the poor hobbit, his face clearly showing how much distress he was in; she could understand his worry for his mother's belongings. The song ended with all the dishes piled up on the table, clean, safe, and ready to be put away.

Admist all the laughing at Bilbo's shocked face, a knock was heard. "He's here" Gandalf said, and looked at Bilbo, clearly wanting him to go open the door. As the dwarves went out into the hall to greet the new guest, Gandalf turned to the two girls. "Stay here at the table. It will be best to introduce you two and Bilbo separately." And with one more puff on his pipe, he headed out to the hall after the dwarves.

Shrugging, the two girls sat down once more and listened to what was going on.

"Gandalf, if it hadn't been for your mark on the door, I would have passed by it a third time." They heard a deep voice say. "Mark? No, there's no mark on my door, I just had it painted last week!" Another, recognized as Bilbo, exclaimed. A few murmurs later and they heard "So this is the Hobbit" There was a pause, and then: "He looks more like a grocer than a burgular". "Yeesh, he sounds grumpy." Isabella whispered to Arianna. A question from the new dwarf, asking if there was any dinner left, and a mad scramble of footsteps were next heard as Ori and Kili rushed into the room, laying out a place at the table; a bowl of soup, a roll, and some ale being set down as well.

Suddenly, the newcomer appeared. He was taller than the others (although Isabella still stood a head taller and Arianna was about equal height with him) and had long black hair slightly streaked with grey. His beard was cut short, and he had two identical braids on either side of his head, bound by silver beads at the end. He looked… determined and if he was surprised by the two human girls sitting at the table, he didn't show it.

"Thorin, allow me to introduce Arianna and Isabella. I had found them on the road to the west of Bree as I travelled to the Shire for this evening's meeting. Girls, this is Thorin Oakenshield, the leader of this journey. I told them they should accompany us Thorin, as they are not from around here and should not be left to wander by themselves." Gandalf said, walking into the room behind him. The rest of the dwarves filled in the table, all eyes on Thorin. Dwalin muttered something that sounded suspiciously like "should've left them lost" before taking the seat nearest to Thorin. Isabella and Arianna muttered quiet "How do you do's" to the intimidating creature before them. A quiet "hmph" was all that Thorin said on the matter, for the moment.

Digging into the food, he listened as Gandalf explain their quest, mainly to the benefit of the hobbit lingering behind him. With a flourish, Gandalf produced a map, and a key, _his grandfather's_ key. He then explained how it had been left in his care, and that he was now passing it on to Thorin. Confidence filled Thorin. They had a way into the mountain now! All they had to do was read the map. _Without _the help of the elves, as Gandalf seemed to keep hinting that he felt going to Imladris was the best option to start. He would not take his company there and open themselves up once again to the creatures that had betrayed his kind.

"We will seize this chance to take back Erebor!" He said, rising from his seat and clenching his fist in front of him. Looking over, he noticed the two strange girls watching all the dwarves cheer, unreadable expressions on their faces. The dark haired one looked slightly like an elf, tall, slender, and a pretty enough face (for a non-dwarf). The one with the flaming hair was shorter, stockier, with an air of knowledge and curiousity. 'They will only hinder us' he thought. Why Gandalf thought they could go on this journey, he did not know, but he would not let it continue. He already had the hobbit to contend with, and as he told Gandalf, he could not ensure that one's survival, nor would he be responsible for his fate. He refused to take on another two burdens.

"You,' Thorin said, pointing at Isabella 'What makes you think you can come on this journey? You both look like nothing but burdens for us, and I will not risk my men's lives for strangers. Plus, we already have an added burden in the hobbit."

Feeling quite affronted, Isabella stared at the fierce dwarf. 'Burden indeed' she snorted, 'I could run circles around him' she thought over-confidently. Standing up, she answered. "We may not know much of this world, Master Dwarf, but I'm a Gryffindor, braver than any you could ever find." Okay, she admitted to herself, she was bluffing quite a bit. But Gandalf said that they needed the dwarves to take them to this Rivendell place, and how would they accomplish that if they were left behind? She took a breath and looked at Arianna, who was looking at her aghast for her bold statement. "And my friend here is a Ravenclaw,' she continued, figuring she might as well go all out, 'smartest person you shall ever find. She has read and memorized hundreds of books and is cleverer than Rowena herself" she finished with a nod.

"Gryffindors and Ravenclaws, what is this nonsense? And what good are books on this journey? You cannot kill an orc with one, therefore they are practically useless. And I care not about your supposed bravery. One look at an orc, and you will run away screaming for aid that we will not give you. This journey will be the end of you" he finished harshly. Perhaps harsher than he intended, but he was trying to make a point after all, and the fear of death was always a good deterrent.

Glancing over, Isabella noticed that Arianna was now also glaring at the leader of the dwarves. 'Not good… he essentially threatened me _and_ insulted her books... not good at all. Perhaps I should just have kept quiet.' Isabella thought, cursing her Gryffindor tendency to speak without thinking. She then winced, as she heard Arianna respond, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Of course, we are but females Mister Oakenshield. Clearly, our worth will be judged by our appearances alone. Nevertheless, how _dare_ you threaten my friend, not with direct harm from yourself, but with a promise to withhold aid! I know for a fact, that were your places reversed, she would run in to save _your_ sorry skin, friend or stranger."

Arianna was breathing heavy now, her anger with this... this... imperialistic male reaching new heights. Gandalf wanted them to seek aid from _this_? Over her dead body! Still insulted, she took a deep breath. "And yes, what good would books do on this quest? You obviously have all the answers. Except that you have no idea of what you are doing. You have a map which you cannot read, signs that you are unsure of, a key with no discernible door, and last but not least, a dragon, which I doubt you have any idea of how to _fight_, let alone kill! Thank god your sword is pointy on one end, or I doubt you would know what to do with that either!"

"And then,' she continued, ignoring Isabella's attempts to cover her mouth and get in front of her, 'to top it all off, the lot of you barge into Mister Baggins' house, eat all his food, terrify him into thinking you'd break his _dead mother's_ dishes, and speak down to him as if he is worth nothing. Grocer indeed! You have insulted someone who doesn't know you or your story, but is possibly willing to help, even though you are not his kin, nor even his kind! You, Sir' at this, Arianna jabbed her finger into the chest of the gobsmacked Thorin, as she had stood up and been inching towards him during the end of her tirade, 'could use a good book… on _manners_!" And with that, she grabbed Isabella, thanked Bilbo for the dinner and Gandalf for helping them, bid the shocked dwarves good night, and marched out of the hobbit's house into the night.

* * *

The sudden temper and departure of the red head and her black haired friend was met with astonished glances between Thorin, Gandalf (who looked mighty amused with Arianna's outburst and unhappy with Thorin's, all at the same time) and the now closed door. Then Bilbo started to read the contract that Balin had given him during the explanation of the quest, got to the part with the various ways of dying, and fainted, effectively ending the silence.

* * *

Outside, Arianna paused and spoke to Isabella. "Gandalf already told us where we needed to go. I'm sure others in this place will know how to get to this Rivendell. We'll head to the woods, light a fire, and sleep there for the night." she said with determination. Isabella nodded and quietly followed her best friend, silently laughing at the image of the dwarf's face as Arianna had given him a complete tongue lashing. Sobering up, she began to worry. Arianna often kept a cool head, but sometimes her Irish temper would flair up, such as in this case, and get the best of her. Now they found themselves in a strange world, alone and unsure of whom they were going to meet next. She hoped that it wouldn't be an orc, whatever that was. It didn't sound pleasant at all.

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**Although... when I started writing this, I didn't realize just how upset she would be. I guess this is what everyone means when they say "the characters got away from them"! I had no intention of them storming out of Bag End like that.**

**Also, in case anyone is wondering, this is NOT a Mary Sue. At all. They do not take Bilbo's place, they are not great fighters, they just have magic and brains. And the fact that there's two of them to watch the other's back.**

**Oh also, I read somewhere that Thorin was about 5'2". Correct me if I'm completely wrong, but for this story, the average Dwarf will be 4'6"-4'8", Bilbo is 3'9" ish, and Kili/Fili will both be about 5'0".**


	6. Pranks and Stories

**The girls get an insight into Thorin, and start making friends with our favorite Durin Brothers!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything, it all belongs to Peter Jackson, JRR Tolkien, and JK Rowling.**

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Chapter 6: Pranks and Stories

Isabella hadn't been lying about Arianna being clever. Embellishing the truth a bit perhaps by saying she was cleverer than Rowena, but not lying. Arianna knew that leaving the hobbit's home in a fit of anger was a very bad idea and that sleeping outside in the wilds where anything could get them was an even worse one. She realized that most of her housemates, had they been in a similar position, would have walked back into the house (hole?) in the hill and asked for forgiveness and a nice bed for the night. Unfortunately, her temper and pride refused that course of action. So she led Isabella down the little hobbit paths until they reached the outskirts of the forest. "We'll go a little farther in and start a fire" she said, turning around to look at her friend following behind her. "The fire should keep any creatures away from us." Arianna honestly hoped she was right.

Finding a little clearing, the girls gathered fallen branches by wand light, figuring there weren't any others around to see the curious sight. Laying the sticks in a small pile, Arianna muttered "Incendio", setting it ablaze. Looking around the clearing, she decided that they should take turns keeping watch, just in case. Telling Isabella about her idea and that Arianna would take first watch, she transformed two left over twigs into brown blankets, handed one to Isabella and wrapped the other around herself. "I'm really glad our magic still works here" Isabella mumbled before yawning widely and falling asleep.

"Me too" Arianna replied. She didn't want to think about what this incident would have been like if they couldn't use their magic because they didn't have it, not because they didn't want to use it around others.

Thankfully both of the girls were still in the Shire, even if no one from the Shire could see them, as Arianna was unable to stay awake for longer than 30 minutes after Isabella had fallen asleep. The most dangerous thing that got near them that night were a few moths that were attracted to the light from the fire.

* * *

"There you two are! I bet you feel very clever, having scolded the Prince of Erebor and then running of into the woods at night!" Springing up, both girls looked around, wands in hand. "Put those ridiculous sticks away, if they are even what you claim them to be." In front of them sat Gandalf astride a chestnut draft horse cross. "I have convinced Thorin that _not_ bringing you along would be a greater folly then having you join us" he continued, gesturing for the girls to follow him and his horse. "Gee, thanks" Arianna said, staying where she was. "We don't need help from that insufferable dwarf."

"Yes you do. And he needs your help as well. No one has ever spoken to him in such a manner, except perhaps his sister, who is by rights a force to be reckoned with. That alone makes you both quite valuable" Gandalf said quieter, winking at the girls. "Now come along."

The girls followed Gandalf to where the others were waiting, already mounted on their ponies. "Isabella,' Gandalf said, looking at the taller girl, 'you will ride with me. Arianna, you can go ride with Dwalin, as he has one of the larger ponies of the group."

'Dwalin?' Arianna thought furiously. 'That's almost as bad as Grumpin McOakenPants!' One glance at Isabella confirmed that she was feeling the exact same way, however Arianna wasn't sure if she used the same nickname or not. Gandalf, either out of innocent obliviousness or just plain indifference, led Arianna to Dwalin's pony. The dwarf clearly looked like he would rather drag Arianna with his pony instead of letting her ride it. "Do you need help up my dear?" Gandalf asked, clearly ignoring the looks of hate Dwalin was giving the red head.

"No, I've ridden before. May I please borrow the stirrup Mister Dwalin?" Arianna asked, trying to look as polite as possible, all too aware that Thorin had turned and was now watching her. She figured that he was secretly hoping she'd fall off onto her butt and didn't want to miss it. Thankfully, she hadn't been lying to save face. She had ridden before, a few times. It was enough to pick up the basics, just as how to mount a horse. Placing her left foot in the now vacated stirrup, she did a little bounce and then hopped up, swinging her right leg over the pony's rump and settled behind Dwalin. Isabella, having ridden as well (with Arianna of course), did the same on Gandalf's horse. Both girls looked at each other and shared a secret smile. Poor Thorin would remain disappointed for today at least.

Isabella looked around, noticing that Mister Baggins wasn't with them. When she asked Gandalf where he was, he just stated that "Bilbo Baggins will be along in a moment." Several dwarves snorted at that answer, but then were silenced as they heard a shout of "I signed it!" and Bilbo ran up to them, his contract flying behind him. Isabella smiled at how eager and nervous he looked. He really was a cute little fellow.

"Well, everything seems to be in order Master Baggins. Welcome to the Company of Thorin Oakenshield!" Balin announced. "Get him a pony." Thorin ordered, his nephews obeying by lifting Bilbo up between them and placing him on a pack pony behind them, despite his protests of "I can walk! I have legs you know!"

* * *

They journeyed for the entire day until they reached a cliff of sorts. There was a steep drop off to the left of the girls with a cliff face reaching upwards farther to the girls right. Thorin stopped his pony, declaring that they would spend the night here. Ordering Fili and Kili to go get some fire wood, he had Ori and Dori tie the ponies up. Dwalin seemed relieved to be able to get away from Arianna, if one could read any other emotions on the man's face besides annoyance and disgust. Walking over to Gandalf and Isabella, Arianna asked her friend how she was doing. They weren't able to talk often during the day, as Dwalin enjoyed riding up by his brother and Thorin, while Gandalf stuck to the back with Bilbo and Thorin's nephews.

Arianna decided that she quite liked Balin. The older dwarf asked her questions about where she and Isabella were from. Arianna didn't want to give too many details, still very unsure about the situation they were in, but she did tell him that she and her friend lived at a school and didn't know exactly how they had ended up in Middle Earth. She told him about the giant squid too, thinking the two silent dwarves that were obviously listening as well might enjoy hearing about the creature. She wasn't sure why she cared that Dwalin enjoyed her stories, as she couldn't give a flobberworm if Thorin did.

"Bloody hell, Thorin is grumpier than Snape after I accidentally threw those porcupine quills into that Slytherin's potion!" Isabella whispered, once Gandalf had wandered off. "Come on, let's go sit over by Kili and Fili. They were very nice today and thought that you yelling at their uncle was the funniest thing they've ever seen." Grinning slightly, Arianna followed her friend over to the two brothers. They were leaning up against the side of the cliff, having quickly gathered enough firewood for a large fire. Bombur and Bofur were making some sort of stew and Arianna realized just how hungry she was.

* * *

Dinner was a rowdy affair again, with the dwarves laughing and telling stories while eating Bombur's and Bofur's stew. Thorin sat by himself, just observing his company and eating quietly. After dinner, the dwarves and Bilbo settled down to sleep, all except Thorin, Fili, Kili, Balin and Gandalf. The girls decided to sit up a little bit longer with the dwarf brothers as well. The brothers talked about their lives in the Blue Mountains, mainly about the pranks they've pulled on Thorin. Isabella and Arianna laughed, and Isabella shared various pranks she had pulled on her professors, twisting the stories slightly so that it left out her use of magic. She wasn't able to share many of the things that she had done, but the simpler pranks still make the brothers laugh when they heard about them.

Looking up, Arianna saw Bilbo standing up, obviously uncomfortable and unable to sleep well on the ground. Walking over, he stopped, his eye wide and looking around in fear as a howl was heard from the valley. "What was that?" he asked, clearly frightened. "Orcs." Kili answered seriously, glancing at Isabella and Arianna out of the corner of his eye. They looked very serious and each had a hand in a pocket. "They like to sneak into camps in the middle of the night, slitting the throats of those sleeping, and leaving behind nothing but blood and half devoured bodies." Kili finished, trying and failing to hide a little snicker as he looked at Fili. If Bilbo was frightened before, he was positively terrified now. He had whipped around though and stared at Kili, an expression of confusion and hurt on his face as he realized that the dwarf had been joking with him. Arianna was not as restrained however. Reaching over, she smacked Kili on the back of the head and whispered "That wasn't nice Kili! Just because you know more about the dangers of this world doesn't mean you have to be a jerk about them." Right after her admonishment, Thorin walked over growling "You think a night raid by orcs is funny, do you? You know nothing of the world!" and stalked off.

"Don't take it too harshly laddie. Thorin has more reason than most to hate orcs." Balin said, walking over to the four of them. And so Balin told the story of the Battle of Azanulbizar, in which Azog the Defiler swore to wipe out the line of Durin and beheaded the king, Thror. Overcome by rage, the young Prince Thorin attacked the Pale Orc. Disarmed and without a shield, the prince took up an oak branch and blocked the orc's mighty swings. Finally finding a sword, Thorin swung and cut off the Defiler's arm. Thorin then rallied his people and won the day. There were no victory songs or celebrations however, as the price of victory had been steep, with many of their kin slain.

"There is one I could follow. There is one I could call King" Balin said, finishing his tale. Thorin had wandered over to the ledge of the cliff, looking out into the distance. As Balin said his last line, Thorin turned around and saw that all the dwarves were now standing up and watching; Ori had a look of wonder on his face.

"What happened to Azog?" Bilbo asked. "That scum died of his wounds long ago" Thorin replied, walking away from camp.

Arianna shared a glance with Isabella. "I still don't like him." She declared, crossing her arms across her chest and leaning against the rock face. Closing her eyes, she tried to sleep… a feat made difficult by visions of a large white monster, holding a non-descript dwarf head up, while Thorin charged him, screaming his rage.

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**Time to go edit and upload the next chapter! No sleep tonight! Well... maybe a little bit of sleep. Eventually.**


	7. Ponies and Trolls

**I'm terrible at writing battle scenes... honestly. I'm going to give it my best shot with the flight from the Wargs in the next chapter, but with the trolls... yeah, it really wasn't going to happen at this point. Perhaps I'll come back and add it later once I gained better writing abilities. **

**Disclaimer: Once again, own nothing... I'm not making money, I'm just doing it for fun. And my own sanity at this point.**

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Chapter 7: Ponies and Trolls

The company woke up early the next morning, knowing that Thorin would be eager to get moving after the orc cries from last night. Breakfast was a hurried affair and the ponies were saddled and mounted not a half an hour after everyone woke up. Arianna found herself once again riding behind Dwalin, next to Balin and, surprisingly, Gandalf and Isabella. Happy to finally be close to her friend during the day again, the two girls started talking, wondering if anyone had noticed them missing yet. None of the men appeared to be paying attention as the girls turned to talking about their friends back at Hogwarts and if the Weasley twins had gotten that hag Umbridge to run screaming from their castle yet. Laughing at the images that thought line had produced, the girls were startled when Thorin called for a halt, deciding it was time for lunch.

He had spent all morning listening to the girls endless babble and laughter. He sat down, rubbing his temples in an attempt to get rid of his headache, after ordering a fire to be made and lunch cooked. Dwalin sat down next to him, grumbling about how if he had to hear one more ridiculous prank, he was going to push a certain red head off the back of his pony. Slapping his old friend on the shoulder, Thorin told him that he would ask Gandalf to ride towards the back of the group for the rest of the day. After he finished deciding that, Balin walked up.

"Those girls sure are full of life, aren't they? Almost reminds me of what it felt like to be 50 again. I am slightly concerned though that if they and your nephews become better friends, we will have an unknown and unstoppable force to reckon with." Realizing that the older dwarf was quite correct, Thorin and Dwalin exchanged long-suffering looks. The lesser of two evils, it seemed, was to keep the girls where they had been all day- together and up front. Neither noticed Balin's secret smile; he greatly enjoyed listening to the girls' happy chatter and he already knew that the young princes and girls would become close no matter where they rode in line. 'It's about time we had more laughter in our lives' he thought.

* * *

They continued like this for many days. Arianna would ride with Dwalin and Isabella with Gandalf. Isabella eventually felt safe enough to start publically calling Gandalf "Grey-Grey"- when Gandalf wasn't around of course. Witch or not, she was positive Gandalf could kick her british tush in such a way that it would make Harry Potter's defeat of the Dark Lord when he was a baby look like a multi-hour battle. Every night the girls would hang out with Fili and Kili, laughing and joking and telling stories. They would eventually fall asleep in a small heap, the four of them keeping each other warm.

Eventually, the company stopped for the night at an old, half-destroyed building. Gandalf appeared to be agitated by the choice of camp. He and Thorin had an argument, with Gandalf eventually storming off, claiming to need to be in the presence of the only sane person in the group left: Himself.

Arianna and Isabella stood together on the outside of the group, waiting for Kili and Fili to get back from tending to the ponies so they could all eat together. When Bofur came over to give the girls their soup, he smiled, hoping that they would feel more at ease with him. He enjoyed listening to their stories at night and found them making him chuckle more and more at their antics. He also knew that Ori was quite taken with the pair; he was just too shy to even attempt to talk to them. " 'Ere lassies, get some warm food in ya. And if you don't mind, young Ori hasn't said much today. Perhaps you could go tell him one of your wonderful stories?" Bofur suggested with a smile, knowing that more dwarves than just Ori would enjoy listening and that it might be just what the young one needed to open up a bit more.

Smiling, Isabella led the way over to the bashful dwarf, who upon noticing the two, promptly spilled some of his soup on himself. Sitting down of either side of the now blushing dwarf, Isabella looked over at Arianna and winked. "Hey Ori, did I ever tell you about the time I set a pack of nifflers loose in my school's dorms?" Shaking his head no, Ori's eyes widened as Arianna first launched into a description of what a niffler _was_ exactly and why it was extremely naughty of Isabella to let them loose in the Slytherin's dorm. She then turned the story back over to Isabella, who excitedly described in great detail the chaos that had resulted. "And then, Draco Malfoy let out this ungodly high pitched scream, and made a mad dash out of the common room, about 10 nifflers right on his heels!"

Right at this moment, Fili ran into camp. "Trollshavetakensomeoftheponi esandBilbowenttogetthemback!" he yelled, out of breath.

Cursing, Thorin jumped up, grabbed his sword and pointed at the girls. "Stay. Here." He growled. Arianna once again noticed that Thorin only seemed to have one tone… a growling one. "Like hell we're staying here." Arianna shouted back, with Isabella adding "Bilbo is our friend! We are not leaving him to the mercy of those creatures!" Growling, and looking like he'd just love to run Arianna through with his sword, he took off after Fili, the company and girls racing behind.

* * *

'Well,' Arianna thought, 'Harry Potter had more luck with a troll when he was 11 than we did with 13 dwarves, a hobbit, and two witches still pretending not to be witches.'

"We tell no one about this, it'll ruin our 7th year reputation" Isabella muttered. They were all currently stuck in burlap sacks, except for the dwarves tied to the log being rotated over the fire. In a heap off to the side lay the rest, with Isabella next to Kili, Fili at their feet. Arianna was stuck basically on top of Thorin, with Isabella's head on her legs. "This _sucks_! Where the hell is Quirrell when you need a stuttering, turban-wearing little troll-whisperer?" Isabella said again, looking at Arianna. "Then again, you have to deal with Thorin-the-Chair. My life is quite peachy right now." She added, smirking.

Arianna smirked too, right before kneeing her "friend" in the back of the head. Perhaps she should have been in Slytherin. Looking to her right, she saw Thorin trying his hardest not to make eye contact with her. "You look like a little dwarf potato" she whispered to the Prince. Quickly she turned her head before she caught his glare but mainly so he couldn't see her smile. She knew it wasn't the time nor place to make jokes but, she really couldn't help herself. He _did_ look like a little potato.

"Think we could petrify them? I mean, this seems like quite the desperate situation." Isabella was once again whispering to her. "I would, but I can't reach my wand" Arianna muttered back, trying to be as quiet as possible, knowing that Thorin was glaring holes in the back of her head. She hoped his rage was making it difficult for him to hear.

"No wait! You don't want to be doing that! There is a secret to cooking dwarves." Everyone stared in surprise at Bilbo Baggins as he hopped towards the dwarves.

"Paw, wut would a lil burgla-hobbit know about cookin' dwarves?" One of the trolls asked. "No, let 'im finish! I wanta 'ear the secret!" the middle one exclaimed, smacking the first one. Both girls were watching the hobbit intently, wondering what he would say next.

"Well… the secret… the secret is… is… to skin them first!" Bilbo shouted. 'Oy' Isabella thought. 'Not the best suggestion Bilbo…'

"What?! Skin them? You've a barbarian! A sham! You don't skin a perfectly good dwarf, you lose all the precious juices. You do like juicy dwarf, don't you my fine gentlemen!"

Isabella felt struggling underneath her head as her best friend tried to stand up and hop over to Bilbo, amidst screams of outrage and horror. Isabella noticed that Kili and Fili looked particularly betrayed, while Thorin looked furious. Granted, he always looked furious.

"Seriously, you burgla-hobbit, who taught you to cook? A half-dead orc?" The look on Bilbo's face when Arianna pipped up and managed to hop over to him was priceless. But he seriously needed to keep talking now she thought. Glaring at him and attempting to telepathically get him to continue the banter about the best way to cook their friends, Arianna hoped that the clever little hobbit's plan worked. Realization crossed Bilbo's face as he shouted "I'll have you know, skinned dwarf has been a recipe passed down through the Took family for generations!"

"I agree wit' the little she-burgla-hobbit. They taste so much better 'ole!" the third troll declared, marching over and grabbing Bombur, dangling him over his mouth. "NO! Don't eat that one!" Bilbo shouted. "He has parasites!... uh, in his tubes! In fact, they all do, I wouldn't risk it, I really wouldn't." Arianna nodded vigorously as Bombur was thrown down on the pile, right where she had been laying before. Wincing, she was glad she had gotten up.

"Parasites?! We do not have parasites!" She heard Dori and Kili shout out, affronted once again. Bilbo shot them a pointed look as Arianna stared down the trolls, trying to look as much like a Malfoy as possible. A Malfoy could convince a troll to do anything she reasoned, so attempting to replicate their facial expressions of haughtiness seemed like a wonderful idea. She heard a swift thud behind her and then "Oh aye, we've all got parasites!" from Dori and "I've got the biggest parasites out of anyone!" out of Kili. Cries of "We're riddled with them!" and "Completely Infected!" were heard from the rotating spit over the fire.

The one troll was on to them… she thought his name Bob? "What do you think we should do then? Let 'em go?"

"Well… preferably, yes." Bilbo answered.

"May the Dawn Take You All!" As one, Arianna, Isabella, Bilbo and the dwarves that weren't tied up turned in shock. There stood Gandalf on a boulder, striking his staff down upon it. The boulder broke in two, allowing sunlight to pour onto the trolls.

They tried to run away but, the sun worked too quickly, turning them into giant, leering statues.

"God, I miss our trolls. They don't talk at all. Just grunt stupidly." Isabella said as she hopped up next to Arianna. Smiling, Arianna turned to the hobbit beside her. "Good thinking Bilbo. I'm sorry for my interruption… I was just worried that they would actually skin one of the dwarves before you could stop them. You handled it very well though. Parasites!" Laughing, she grabbed hold of Isabella's bag, allowing her friend to step out of it. Isabella returned the favor for Arianna, though both girls had to search through the sacks a bit to find their wands, which had fallen out of their pockets during the excitement. 'Thank god we didn't jump on them while we were hopping' Arianna thought. Safely and secretly tucking them away once more, the girls turned to catch the tail end of Gandalf and Thorin's conversation.

"There must be a cave nearby."

* * *

**Well? Was it okay? I know Arianna did interrupt Bilbo's troll moment but, she didn't take command of it. Just gave him confidence to continue through with his plan :).**


	8. Wargs and Revelations

**Here it is! The flight from the Wargs. I hope you all enjoy it. Like I said, I'm terrible at writing battle scenes so, any pointers for what I could do better would be appreciated.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing, I don't make money from this, and I only want to have fun with the characters! :)**

* * *

Chapter 8: Wargs and Revelations

There was indeed a cave. A "dark, stinking, festering hole in the ground" was more descriptive of it Arianna thought. The girls absolutely refused to go in it and waited outside with Kili, Fili and Bilbo while Gandalf, Thorin and a few others ventured inside. Arianna noticed that the two brothers were looking at her awkwardly and didn't seem to be as talkative. Shooting Isabella a confused look, to which she just got a shrug in return, Arianna tried to think of what must have upset the brothers. Nothing was coming to mind until- "Did you two think I was serious about juicy dwarves and knowing a better way to cook you than Bilbo?"

The brothers shot her a look, which she couldn't quite read, before straightening up. "You could have been." Fili answered, Kili nodding beside him. "You must admit, we really don't know any main details about your life, perhaps you all eat dwarves back in your world." 'Well… he has a point, I suppose' Arianna thought, smirking. The thought of eating a dwarf was revolting however, her smirk turning into a grimace.

"I just didn't want the trolls to skin any of you" she said out loud, looking between the brothers and sparing a glance for the dwarves that had remained outside. "I agreed with Bilbo's plan, as I've already told him… I was just trying to stall for more time. In our world, the trolls aren't that intelligent. I mean, we did have one break into Hogwarts once, but he had been helped by a professor or so the rumor goes" she rambled a little more about dunce turban-wearing teachers before Isabella elbowed her in the arm. Shaking her head, Arianna continued. "I just… got a little nervous at a semi-intelligent and hungry troll being told that the best way to eat you was to skin you first." She finished with a small chuckle.

Seeming satisfied with her answer, even with all the rambling, the brothers smiled and started sharing their favorite parts of the night. Kili's of course was when he overheard Arianna call Thorin a potato, something which Fili hadn't heard. The girls thought the blonde prince was going to fall over when Kili recited exactly what she had said, he was laughing so hard. "What was your favorite part of the night brother?" Kili asked the still laughing dwarf. "Oh I especially liked the ending, when Gandalf split the rock and the trolls turned to stone, unable to eat us anymore. Best moment of my life by far." Nodding, both girls agreed. That had been _their _favorite part too.

Eventually, Gandalf, Thorin and the rest of the company came out of the cave. Bofur, Isabella noted, looked extremely happy. He walked over to them, whispering conspiratorially, stating that he had just made a 'long term deposit'. Both girls wrinkled their noses, clearly misunderstanding him, but the confusion was cleared up by his next words. "It wasn't anythin' too special really, not too large, but not small enough to be entirely worthless. It's definitely not the amount of treasure that I'll get when we win back Erebor."

Oh. He meant treasure. Isabella and Arianna quickly nodded, silently vowing that they wouldn't _ever_ share what they had thought he meant originally.

* * *

The brown wizard certainly was a sight to behold. Arianna was convinced that if Hagrid was here, the two would become close friends, as they both cared more for the creatures in their respective forests more than anything else. Arianna felt a slight pang of homesickness, thinking about the giant but gentle man. She and Isabella had been guests in his cottage numerous times for tea, and she rather enjoyed the first (and only) lesson she received from him on hippogriffs. The book that he assigned them however, was another story. It nearly bit her fingers off! 'Monster Book of Monsters indeed' she thought with an exasperated snort. Isabella looked over quickly with a raised eyebrow. "Thinking about Hagrid and that damn textbook." she answered her friend's unasked question. "Why couldn't he have added something in our letters informing us that we were supposed to _stroke_ the book?" Isabella shook her head, smiling. Her friend had moaned about the same thing over and over this summer, mainly because she was annoyed she was unable to read on of her textbooks. "One would think' Isabella muttered back, 'that with all that Ravenclaw brain power and your habit of petting your books that you would have figured it out on your own."

Arianna's "hmph" and crossed arms made Isabella start laughing, causing several of the dwarves to look at the girls. Fili and Kili just stared at them, amused and slightly confused. Who was this Hagrid?

A strange howl broke their thoughts though, as a huge, wolf-like beast lounged at the dwarves. Cries of "Wargs!" ran out through the group, as Thorin stabbed the beast before it could harm any of the company. Suddenly, there was one behind him, leaping with its jaws wide open. Kili quickly drew an arrow and shot the beast in the heart. "Who did you tell about your quest, besides your kin?!" Gandalf roared, coming to stand in front of Thorin. "No one!"

"Who did you tell?!"

"No one I swear Gandalf. What in Durin's name is going on?!"

Looking very grave, Gandalf said "You are being hunted. We must leave at once!"

"The ponies! They've bolted!" Ori shouted, running up to Thorin.

"Go, I will lead them away!" Arianna heard the brown wizard say. "These are Gundabad Wargs!" Gandalf answered, "They will run you down!"

"And these are Rhosgobel Rabbits" the other replied. "I'd like to see them try." With that, he took off through the forest.

"This way! Quickly! Run!" Gandalf shouted, leading the company into the rock-littered plains.

The girls found themselves running with the brothers, Fili having grabbed Arianna's hand, while Kili had one of Isabella's. Slightly comforted by the dwarves, the girls tried to focus on not tripping, a feat made almost impossible by the treacherous terrain. They watched in amazement as the brown wizard zipped around in his sled, faster and more nimble than the wargs and their riders.

Their riders! About half of the wargs had a creature on its back. Their skin was black and they had the most horrid appearance. "What are those things!" Isabella asked once they stopped behind a large boulder to take cover. "Orcs" Kili said, looking up at her terrified eyes. "Don't worry- I'm not my uncle. If you get into trouble, I'll run to help you." Slightly taken aback by his admission, Isabella didn't have time to respond before they were all sprinting across the plains again.

At the next large rock outcropping they stopped at, the company realized that there was a warg and its rider above them. Isabella saw Thorin look pointedly at Kili, who dropped her hand, grabbed an arrow and darted out away from the cover of the rock. He shot the warg and the orc, but both made terrible screeches in their dying moments, no matter how quickly the rest of the dwarves managed to kill them.

Realizing the folly with trying to sneak around now, the company started sprinting across the plains, Gandalf in the front and appearing like he was trying to find something. Arianna risked a glance behind her and saw the warg pack spread out behind them, slowly gaining. 'Not good not good not good' she chanted in her head. Shouts of "Gandalf?" and "Where'd the wizard go?!" reached her. Frantically looking around, she saw that they were on a slight hill and that the wargs were closing around them quickly. Fili and her had become separated, and she could see Isabella standing over by Balin now, looking about wildly. Kili was standing farther away from the group, firing arrow after arrow into the wargs.

"This way you fools!" Whipping around, Arianna saw Gandalf standing half out of the ground. The company started running for him, Arianna included. Upon reaching where everyone was disappearing, she heard a cry from Thorin "Kili get back here!" Turning to look, she realized that Isabella had come up alongside her and was watching Kili run towards them as well. Suddenly, an orc-less warg sprung up the hill, snapping at Kili's heels as he ran as quickly as possible.

"Leave him alone!" Arianna heard and before she could stop her friend, Isabella was running towards Kili, her wand out. "Merlin's saggy grey _underpants_!" Arianna cursed, sprinting after her friend, grabbing her wand from her pocket as well. She could vaguely hear Thorin and Gandalf shouting for them to come back, but she ignored the two men in favor of reaching her completely-Gryffindor friend and Kili.

* * *

Isabella raced to Kili and sprang between him and the charging warg. "Protego!" she shouted, jamming her wand forward and almost falling backwards at the strength with which the warg hit her shield. The warg had bounced backwards as well from the impact and was flailing around on the ground. Not looking behind her to check on Kili, Isabella kept all her focus on her shield, knowing that it was only a matter of time before it would weaken. The warg had gotten up from the ground at this point and was once again throwing itself into Isabella's spell, trying to get to the girl and dwarf.

"Arianna! A little help here if it wouldn't be too much_ trouble!_" she screamed, her nerves getting the best of her. Something in her left periphery moved and she turned her head just as another warg, this one with a rider, leapt at her. 'Bloody hell' she thought.

"Stupify! Flipendo!" she heard, as two brightly colored spells crashed into the orc and warg respectively. Looking to her right, she saw Arianna's face, pale but determined. "Walk backwards towards Gandalf and Thorin" she ordered. "I have an idea." Nodding to her friend, Isabella turned her head to glance at Kili. He was standing behind her in shock, his mouth open and eyes wide. "Um…" she started.

"Isabella, move! We'll explain everything to them later!" Arianna shouted, standing behind Isabella's still holding protego, having stopped the charging warg in front of them with a Petrificus totalus. 'Who knew how long that would last' Arianna thought

Steadily, the three of them moved backwards. Isabella glanced over at Arianna, wondering what her plan was until- "Reducto!" Arianna cried, her spell hitting a rock outcropping. It would have been considered a miss, if it wasn't for the fact that the rock blew apart with a deafening 'Boom!', chunks flying in every direction and effectively taking out the three wargs that were running around and over it. "Bloody Brilliant you are!" Isabella exclaimed, jumping a little in excitement. "Yes well, I think it's safe enough for us to just run now. Release the protego and head towards Thorin" Arianna told her friend, pushing Kili to start running. The girls quickly followed him and then jumped and slid down into the cave with the rest of their company.

* * *

"Pretty sticks indeed." Gandalf said, looking down at the two now-revealed witches. "It seems you have been hiding some of your talents from us." Isabella and Arianna stood next to each other, defiance on their faces. "In our world Gandalf, parading around the fact that you can control magic will get you killed. We have lived in secret from those that cannot use magic for hundreds of years. We decided not to inform any of you of our skills, even though you yourself can use magic, nor did we decide to keep them to ourselves to the detriment of the group." Arianna answered, making eye contact with the Grey Wizard before her, not without giving Thorin a sideways glance first of course, just to see his expression. 'Yep' she thought and inwardly smirked, 'slightly gobsmacked once again.'

"And don't even _think_ about burning us or I'll bat boogey hex you so hard you won't know which end is up." Isabella added passionately, clutching her wand and looking dead serious.

"My dears, why would we burn you? You just saved Kili's life. I'm sure Thorin is terribly grateful, as are Fili and the rest of this company. I must say though, I've never met a female wizard before."

"Witches. We're witches." Arianna corrected him, stealing a glance at the rest of the company now. No one looked furious or upset, even Dwalin she noted with some amusement. They all just looked at the girls curiously. Kili was of course standing over by his brother and Fili looked like he wanted to ask Arianna a question. Before she could acknowledge him however, a horn and hoof beats were heard and an orc tumbled into their cave, killed by an arrow.

"Elves" Thorin spat out, having ripped the arrow out and looked at the tip. This seemed to set the company into action, as Dwalin headed to the back of the cave, only to come running back. "I cannot see the back of it. Looks more like a pathway than anything else. Should we follow it?" Cries of "Yes!" were heard, as the company set out through the cave.

"Remember when you said you would save me from the orcs?" Arianna heard Isabella ask Kili. "Well, I'm not sure if you got all that stuff before," here Arianna rolled her eyes and shook her head at her friend-of course he had got it! "But I'm a witch and it would appear that I'm slightly better at saving you than you are at saving me." Both girls started giggling at Isabella's blatant bragging, the shock of the morning starting to wear off. "Sorry for not telling you sooner" Arianna found herself telling Fili. The blond just smiled and shook his head. "It's understandable. With what you say about your world, I probably wouldn't have told me either if I had been you. You did save my brother after all, so I know you were telling the truth about not keeping it a secret to harm us" he finished, giving her arm a slight squeeze before continuing to travel through the rockway. Smiling back at Isabella, Arianna felt complete since arriving at this strange world. They had their magic, friends, and each other. 'Nothing could ruin this' she thought.

She was, of course, wrong.

* * *

**I hope the girls battle was realistic. I could not see them charging the wargs and orcs, wands blazing as they fired curse after curse at them, eventually destroying the whole pack. I could however see Isabella running out to save Kili, and Arianna running out to save both of them, with their one goal to get back to the others. Which is why I only had them use spells to buy some more time, not to maim and kill.**

**Although blowing up that rock most definitely killed those wargs lol.**

**I'm thinking about going an interesting direction with this story... mainly because of how the girls arrived in Middle Earth. The next chapter should be out sometime tonight or tomorrow morning!**


	9. Rivendell and Decisions

**Alright, this chapter was difficult to write. I had two directions I could have taken with this story, and I settled on this one. I apologize if it seems unrealistic, or if I'm stretching things to make them fit but, I feel like this way, I can have the girls grow more and it gives me more to do than just reciting the book with them in it.**

**I hope everyone likes where I'm going with this story. If anyone wants to know the other direction I was thinking of going, send me a message and I'll tell you. Perhaps I'll make it into a second story, kind of a sequel to this one... I don't know lol.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for Arianna and Isabella. I just enjoy taking them out and playing with them :).**

**A special shout out to TheChildGrim for figuring out how the girls had activated the arch in the beginning of the story! And many thanks to LadyDunla for her awesome reviews!**

* * *

Chapter 9: Rivendell and Decisions

The company finally reached the end of the narrow passageway. Stumbling out onto a large ledge, the girls looked out, their mouths falling open in astonishment. Bilbo was standing next to them, a look of awe on his face.

"Imladris, the Valley of the Elves and home of Lord Elrond." Gandalf announced to the group. Thorin's face grew dark and he scowled heavily at the wizard. Noticing this, Gandalf continued. "This will need to be handled with tact and respect… and not a small amount of charm either" he stated, looking pointedly at Thorin.

"Therefore, you will leave the talking to me" he finished, amidst sounds of laughter from the girls. Thorin turned around to glare at them, but they had changed their faces to ones of such innocence that his harsh words died away into a single snort. Shaking his head, he trailed after Gandalf.

"Hey Bilbo, what does Imladris mean?" Arianna asked the hobbit. "I'm not sure, but it's name in the common tongue is Rivendell." Bilbo answered, his expression still one of awe.

The girls looked at each other and grinned. Rivendell!

* * *

Whenever she looked back on the next few hours, Arianna would find herself wishing that she could return to them. They had been full of awe at the beauty of the elves, joy at still being alive, and full stomachs from the elven food, even if it was mainly salad. The elf, Lord Elrond had invited them all in for food and drink, during which Gandalf introduced the girls to him. When they told Elrond their story of finding the arch and being pulled into it (something they hadn't even told Gandalf yet), he had just nodded in understanding and told them that after dinner he would tell and show them all he knew. Extremely excited about finally getting some answers, Arianna had tried to eat her dinner as neatly and quickly as possible. Granted, she could have eaten it like a wild animal and still have been neater than the dwarves that surrounded her but, it's the thought that counts.

Once the meal was over, Gandalf gestured to the girls to follow him and the elf lord out of the room. They were led down several hallways and stairs until eventually, they found themselves standing in a circular area. It was open to the outside: the border defined by a waist high wall with pillars attaching it to the ceiling. It was all made of white, flawless marble, which had taken on a pinkish hue from the setting sun. Looking out, the girls could see the waterfall at the other end of the valley. And there, standing in the center of the room, was an arch.

It was almost identical to the one they had found at Hogwarts, except that it was made from the same marble as the circular veranda that housed it.

Arianna stared at Elrond and Gandalf. "I'm afraid I don't quite understand. Why is this here? What is it exactly?"

"This,' Elrond gestured to the structure, 'is Ardh Annon, or the 'World Gate'. It was placed in Rivendell for protection by Gil-galad before The War of the Last Alliance. Upon his death, it remained here in secret. It's twin's location has been lost for centuries, hidden somewhere in Middle Earth."

"World Gate?" Isabella asked, at the same time Arianna questioned, 'It's twin?"

"The most simplest explaination would be that it connects worlds, as long as an archway exists. All one has to do is say the name of the world they wish to travel to and the portal will take them. In the first age, it connected 8 worlds together, including Arda and Alba, which is the name of your world. They had been used in times of war, allowing each world to aid each other as needed. Unfortunately, With the rise of Sauron, the alliances failed, and most of the worlds destroyed the archways, frightened of the vulnerabilities it now created for them. And yes each arch had a twin, in case something happened to one of them. A safety measure of sorts."

Both girls were gaping about the Elf Lord, in slight shock at learning that there were other worlds out there, nevermind the fact that they had access to them! Shaking her head slightly, Arianna focused on the first thing she could. "Alba? That sounds almost celtic."

"Yes. Named by your Merlin I believe" Gandalf answered, much to the shock of the girls. "You knew! You knew the whole time!" Isabella accused him.

"I suspected, never knew." Gandalf corrected her. "I was telling the truth of never having heard of Hogwarts."

"So what do we do now?" Arianna asked, shaking her head again at deceptive wizards.

"I've never used Ardh Annon before, therefore I don't understand all of it's intricacies. I don't know what is waiting for you in your world but, I would strongly suggest that you return to it. You have friends and family that miss you and are probably searching for you." Gandalf answered.

"But… what about the quest? We can't leave Fili and Kili, Bilbo, or Bofur, or even Dwalin and Thorin! Even if the last two don't like us, they're our friends! We want to help." Isabella had tears in her eyes, torn between going home and not abandoning those that she had become close to.

Arianna stood there silently, thinking.

"Alright. We'll go home." She said with finality. Isabella looked at her in horror. "What? We can't leave!"

"We have to. We've been gone for weeks and Gandalf is right. My father is probably ripping his hair out." Arianna gave Isabella a pointed look, trying to convey to her that she had a plan. Gandalf had been quick to suggest that they leave and she didn't think he would allow them to go through with her plan without a fight. Thus, she decided that she would explain it to Isabella when they got back home.

"I have sent word for your companions. They are being brought here to say good bye." Arianna nodded to the elf lord in thanks.

* * *

Before long, 13 dwarves and the single hobbit walked in, confusion evident on all their faces. Isabella had missed Arianna's look therefore she was trying her hardest not to cry.

The brothers and Bilbo had concerned looks on their faces at the sight of Isabella's tears, and Fili turned suspicious eyes on Elrond. Arianna took a deep breath and acknowledged that this was going to suck.

"We've... well, we've figured out how to get home... and our families are most likely worried about us. We need to go back to be with them. We're going to miss all of you terribly." She knew it was a lame goodbye, but she never claimed that she was any good at them.

She couldn't look at any of them. She didn't want to see their expressions of betrayal and hurt. They had finally started accepting them and she couldn't deal with leaving them. Isabella felt tears running down her cheeks and heard someone walk up to her. Glancing up from her now destroyed shoes, she saw that it was Kili. He had a gentle smile on his face as he reached up to wipe away her tears. "It's okay, we all understand. You were brought here suddenly and you need to go back to your world." She leaned down and put her head on his shoulder, choking back a sob. Even though he was half a foot shorter than her, he still managed to make her feel safe and protected.

While Kili was comforting Isabella, Arianna watched warily as Thorin walked up to her. 'Oh great… he's going to yell at us for leaving… or punch me for that potato comment finally' she thought.

Surprisingly, Thorin did neither. Instead, he placed his hands on her shoulders, saying "Thank you for helping to save Kili's life when I could not. We are in your debt and I hope you have a long and happy life." Arianna was flabbergasted but touched at the same time. "Thank you for putting up with us Thorin Oakenshield. And… I'm sorry for insulting your intelligence… and calling you a potato." She finished with a slight bow, and therefore missed Thorin's small smile that he hadn't quite been able to hide. With one last squeeze of her shoulders, he walked away.

Fili and Kili came over to her then, having said their goodbyes to Isabella. Giving her a hug, Fili wished her a long and happy life as well, his voice breaking slightly. She gave him a kiss on the cheek and squeezed his hand. Kili hugged her next, making her promise to keep pulling pranks on people, and to start writing them down, in case they ever met again. Balin and Bofur came up to her next, clapping her shoulders and nodding, not quite sure what to say.

Bilbo was saying goodbye to Isabella when Arianna saw Ori standing towards the back of the group, his head down. Smiling softly, she walked up to him and wrapped him in a hug. "Goodbye Ori. I will miss telling you stories." Isabella walked up to the two of them and wrapped him up in a hug as well. "You are a sweetheart Ori. Don't let yourself change, ever" she added, having finally gotten control of her tears.

Walking back to the archway, after having given her favorite "burgla-hobbit" a huge hug and kiss on the forehead, Arianna felt herself stopped by a hand on her shoulder. Turning around, Dwalin was standing there, a slightly less prominent scowl on his face.

"Your riding skills are adequate" he said, looking slightly uncomfortable at his compliment to her and quickly walked away. Arianna fought the urge to giggle; it would not have been appreciated by the very serious dwarf. Both girls approached the rest of the dwarves, for even though they hadn't become as close to them, they were still important to the two friends. Lots of handshakes and shoulder slaps later had the girls back up by the archway.

Having said goodbye to Gandalf and thanked Elrond for his hospitality, the girls took one last look at their company. Kili was staring at Isabella, while Fili looked between the two girls with sad eyes. Arianna found herself locking eyes with Thorin; his gaze was intense and for a second, she almost changed her mind. But she knew that they had things to do and thus had to leave. So with a sad smile, she grabbed Isabella's hand and turned to the arch.

"Alba."

* * *

Night had fallen over Rivendell as the guard rushed through the halls to the library, when he knew his Lord and Mithrandir were deep in discussion. Bursting through the intricate double doors, he quickly cried "My Lord Elrond, Mithrandir, it is as you suspected. Ardh Annon is awake and something is coming through!"

Rising, Gandalf and Elrond walked quickly to the area holding the archway. Entering the room, Gandalf saw two figures, cloaked in black, standing in front of the now inactive structure. Upon seeing him, the two figures removed their hoods, revealing red and black hair.

"Gandalf, how long have we been gone?" Arianna asked. The wizard examined her. She was thinner and her jaw appeared tight, as if she continuously was clenching it. Looking over at Isabella, he noticed that her once long hair was now cut short, with messy spikes in the back and longer pieces in the front hanging over her eyes. She looked strained, an unusually serious expression on her face. Both girls looked older from the last time he had seen them as well.

"Just three days." He responded. Curious, he asked "Isn't that the same amount of time that you were in your world?"

The girls exchanged a look, before Arianna spoke again.

"No. We were there for a year."

* * *

**Well... there it is! Answers will be coming in the next chapter as they explain to Gandalf what happened when they left 3 days ago.**

**Please review and let me know what you think! Even if it's bad... just be nice about it please, lol. I'm a little worried about all your reactions. *crosses fingers***


	10. Questions and Answers

**Alright my wonderful and marvelous readers, the answers are here! Hopefully lol. If you still have questions, leave me a review and I'll answer them at the beginning of the next chapter. Now, it's time to find out just what happened to the girls during that year.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing! Except for my own characters and ideas.**

**And now, a special thanks to: **

**LadyDunla- for her continued support. You are amazing and make me keep writing so thank you!**

**Mistress Serah- for her beautifully long review. It made me so happy I nearly cried :)**

**My two guest reviewers for their amazing-ness. Thank you both!**

**And thanks to all my readers, you guys are awesome!**

**Edit: Another special thanks to "guest" for pointing out that Sirius is only hit with a Stupefy in the book, and the killing curse in the movie... So I've changed it to reflect the book universe. My only excuse is that I've been in pharmacy school for the past 5 years and haven't had time to read my favorite series over again. Plus, I hate the fact that Sirius dies so, I possibly... Skip... Over it? *innocent smile***

**Also, ABC Family always has Harry Potter on, so I just watch it while I'm taking a break from studying... So I blame them :)**

* * *

"Hm" was all Gandalf uttered, considering the two girls in front of him. 'A year… ' he thought. He didn't think that the girls were lying, he just wasn't sure how to handle the drastic time difference.

"Perhaps some wine and an explanation is in order." Gandalf gestured for the girls to follow him and the still silently staring Elf Lord. "And maybe, some Old Toby… for your nerves" he whispered to Elrond.

"One moment Gandalf."

Turning back, he saw Arianna reach into a bag she had, it's strap crossing her chest to prevent it from being dislodged easily. Gandalf watched, surprised, as Arianna's arm up to her elbow disappeared into the bag.

"Expansion charms" Isabella explained, seeing Gandalf's expression. "She threatened me with being her "new curse" practice dummy when I tried to see if I could fit her in the bag." She smiled, but Gandalf noticed that it didn't reach her eyes.

A soft "found it" turned Gandalf's attention back to the first girl, effectively distracting his thoughts from the once bubbly brunette. Arianna now held a square flat object in her hand and Gandalf was once again surprised to notice that it was a mirror! 'Now was not the time to check one's appearance' he thought exasperatedly. He almost missed when Arianna drew out her wand and tapped the mirror with it.

"Hermione" she in toned and both girls looked at the mirror, as if waiting for something to happen. Gandalf was about to walk over and scold the girls for their silliness when suddenly, the mirror spoke!

"There you guys are. We were starting to worry that you had been captured!"

"We're fine. The attack on the wedding caused enough of a confusion and distraction for us to sneak back into Hogwarts. We just wanted to make sure everyone was alright before we asked Lord Elrond to inactivate the archway, in case we need to come back."

A different, male voice answered. "No, everyone is fine. Shaken up a bit, but safe nevertheless. You two are safely through then?"

Arianna gave the mirror a small smile. "Good. And yes, we've found Gandalf and Elrond as well.

"Alright. Keep in touch and keep an eye out. Be safe you two." With that, the mirror stopped speaking and Arianna placed it back in her bag. Looking at the now composed elf, as if girls talking to mirrors and walking out of archways claiming to have been gone for a whole year were daily occurences for him, Arianna asked him to close the archway.

A raised eyebrow was all that answered her. "I believe you should explain to us first why you wish me to close the arch, and then I will consider it."

"We haven't the time! He could come through here any moment. We are not asking you to close it indefinitely, as you can open it once more!" Isabella cried passionately. Gandalf, however, detected a note of fear as well.

"In this situation, Lord Elrond, I feel that action should come before words." Gandalf whispered to his long-time friend.

"Very well. But you two _will_ explain yourselves afterwards."

Isabella shuffled nervously, but Arianna had grown out of the ability to be scolded after… 'No' she berated herself, 'Don't think about it now. There are things to do.' Straightening her shoulders, she lifted her chin and watched as Elrond walked up to the archway, placing his hands on either side of it. He began chanting in the language of the High Elves, the only words Arianna were able to understand were "Ardh Annon". There was a roaring sound and, as the girls watched, the center of the arch began to fill in, until it was nothing more than a free standing wall.

"Now," Elrond was panting slightly, it had taken more energy to close Ardh Annon than he wanted to let on, "it is time for that explanation and some food." He walked out of the veranda, Gandalf beside him and the girls following.

* * *

The elves had laid out a small feast for their visitors. Gandalf, it would appear, wasn't the only one that had noticed the girls diminished looks. The table was laden with a beautiful summer salad, a few different types of cheese, fruity wine made from last year's blackberries, and assorted rolls, including Isabella's favorite from the last time she was here: nekte lereth. It was a sweet bread, sticky and heavy from the honey used to make it. Its name literally meant "honey bread" and it was delicious.

Giving her friend a worried look, Isabella pulled Arianna off to one side. "Promise me you'll eat something."

"I'm not hungry Isabella. Don't worry, I'll eat when I am."

"Don't worry? You haven't eaten properly since… since…" Isabella was unable to continue but, Arianna knew what she meant. Seeing her friend's broken gaze, Arianna gave her a sad smile. "Alright, I'll eat a little bit. Come, let's not keep Gandalf waiting any longer. He might burst." Isabella rewarded her with a half-hearted chuckle and wiped her eyes.

"Yes, that would be just _dreadful_."

Walking to the table now occupied by Gandalf and Elrond, the girls sat down and pulled some food towards them. Arianna picked at her salad while Isabella neatly ate her favorite bread. Finally deciding that it was time to tell their story, Arianna took a sip of her water and looked up.

* * *

_"Why did we leave? We could have helped them!" Isabella nearly shouted. They had just gotten out of the arch and Isabella was fuming._

_"Because we aren't prepared to help them" Arianna stated simply. "There are so many things we can do to help, but most of it is here and we need to go get it. Then we're going back."_

_Isabella's smile was blinding. "I knew it! I knew you had a plan!" Arianna just stared at her._

_"Well… okay, I didn't know. But I'm so glad you do!" Isabella corrected, bouncing up and down in excitement._

_"Calm down Bells. Now, we've been gone for 3 weeks, give or take a few days. We're going to have to be very cautious and not get caught because the teachers won't let us go back. Go to your room; pack a set of clothes and anything else you think might be handy. I'm going to go to my room and do the same. Meet me by the statue of Merlin, on the 2nd floor. And don't get caught." With a quick hug, the girls raced up the stairs, through the abandoned classroom, and down the hallway._

_As the girls ran pell-mell down the hallways, they ignored the cries of the portraits, asking them what they were doing, why they were in school and would they just slow down? Unbeknownst to them, several of the portraits raced to the headmaster's office, fighting for room in the frame hung for this very reason. Shouts ranging from "students racing in the hallways" to "they're covered in dust and their cloths are all ripped!" filled the round office. Standing up, the headmaster rushed out of the room. He hadn't heard any solid details, but he was positive he knew who the students were._

_The girls rounded the corner by the Great Hall and almost ran smack dab into the Headmaster. "Welcome back Miss Evergreene, Miss Phoe. Perhaps we should go to the hospital wing?" _

_"We… we can't! We don't have time." Isabella finished, lamely. The Headmaster just looked over his glasses at her. "Miss Phoe, you both have been gone for 9 months. So if you do not mind, I would like Madam Pomfrey to examine you… and make sure you're alright." He finished gently._

_The two were stunned in silence. 9 months? They had missed the whole school year? But… they were only gone for 3 weeks!_

_Arianna opened her mouth, a million questions running through her mind but, Dumbledore held up his hand and stopped her. "Questions later my dear, first let us make sure you are alright after your journey."_

_"Headmaster, you don't understand. We need to…"_

_"The wonderful thing about Merlin, my dear, was that he was a magical genius. When he found the Gateway Arch, he created within it a sentient thought… an ability to think and discern. It was taught how to pass its ability on, thus creating the same ability in the Arda arches as well. Unfortunately, many of the other world arches had been destroyed at that point, and as far as I know, only Arda and our world has remained connected. Therefore, these arches not only guarantee safe passage, but also allow the traveler be delivered exactly when they are needed. No matter when they leave. Thus, I'm afraid you can afford the time to an examination by Madam Pomfrey, so if you will just follow me…" and with a pointed look over his glasses, he turned and walked up the stairs, confident that the girls would follow._

_"How did he know where we were?" Isabella whispered to her best friend._

_"He's Dumbledore… he probably planned the whole dratted thing." She mumbled back, keeping her eye on the brightly-clad Headmaster._

_Madam Pomfrey bustled around both girls for an hour, at least. She ran diagnostic spell after diagnostic spell until Arianna was sure she was going to be turned into a muggle x-ray. Eventually, the strict matron gave up and admitted that there was nothing wrong with the girls except a few lost pounds. "That still doesn't mean you're leaving here anytime soon!" she proclaimed, her gaze fierce. Nodding obediently, the girls then turned to their Headmaster, who had been standing off to the side watching with a smile on his face. _

_"And now my dears, I believe it is time to tell me of your adventures."_

_So Arianna started talking. She told about the discovery of the archway, being dropped in a field and her confusion now as to why they weren't taken to Rivendell instead. Dumbledore looked pensive at this information, and made the girls go over everything they said and did while in the room with the Gateway. Arianna finally remembered how the gate hadn't actually been activated until Isabella mispronounced the word "harder". Dumbledore looked intrigued. _

_"Perhaps, Miss Phoe, Miss Evergreene… the Gateway was unsure as to where you wanted to go. It is sentient after all, and must have recognized the word slightly. But it wasn't sure and thus decided where to place you... just a theory of course, I doubt anyone will ever understand how it really works. But continue, please."_

_Giving the headmaster a puzzled look, Arianna did as requested, with Isabella helpfully adding in details every now and then. And if most of them involved a certain dark haired Durin brother, no one commented. _

_"And so, I thought that we could come back, get some books on healing, possibly a few odds and ends that would help, and then go back." Arianna finally finished. She was exhausted, having talked for almost 3 hours. Stifling a yawn, she looked towards the headmaster, waiting for his reaction. He merely smiled, stood up, and stated that it was time for bed. When the girls protested, he held up his hands for silence and spoke. _

_"I have much to think about tonight… and tomorrow I believe I will have some answers for you and a possible plan." With that, he turned and left the infirmary._

_The girls fell asleep quickly that night and dreamed of their companions._

_T__hey awoke to Madam Pomfrey bustling about their beds and the smell of a much-missed Hogwarts breakfast. "Oh good, you're awake. The Headmaster will be down shortly. Now eat up, and drink those two nutrient potions as well."_

_The girls ate quickly and, pulling twin faces of disgust, downed their respective potions. Finally, their meal was finished and the headmaster had walked in._

_"Good morning my dears, how are you feeling today?"_

_"Fine, thank you Headmaster. You said you would have answers?" Arianna asked, eager to continue on and hopefully return to Arda._

_"Yes, I do. But first, do you two have any questions?"_

_She did. Quite a few actually and she wasted no time in asking them. "How do you know about Arda? How do you know about the arches? Lord Elrond mentioned that each Arch has a twin, where is the twin to ours? And before we left, I had found this book. Do you know what it is?" she had removed the book from her bag, having carried it with her all through Arda. Thankfully, it hadn't been damaged, as Madam Pince would have had her head._

_"One question at a time my dear, one at a time. Yes, I do know of this book, as I placed it in the library hoping one such as yourself would find it. As for your first question, I have never been to Arda, but I am in possession of Merlin's… memoir of sorts, and he describes the finding of the Gateway, his travels to Arda and other worlds, and his awakening of the archstone in great detail. In fact, the Gateway is the reason why Hogwarts stands where it does, to offer protection and sentry for it. As for where it's twin is, it is believed to be in the Department of Mysteries, a thought of mine that has recently been proven true by young Mister Potter. Unfortunately, its actions are most curious and perhaps it has been tainted somewhat."_

_Noticing the confused looks the girls gave him, he continued. "Mister Potter's godfather was hit by a Stupefy and fell through the Veil. He did not appear on the other side and was, I believe, transported away. How this happened, I do not know, as no one gave the archway anything that could even sound like a direction. Perhaps being surrounded by dark objects and unknown magic has affected it more than I thought" he mused to himself. Seeming to come back to himself, Dumbledore steepled his fingers in front of his face and peered over his glasses to the girls._

_"Voldemort also knows of Arda."_

_Jumping at the name, both girls felt fear grip their hearts. Voldemort?_

_"What? How does he know? Why would he even want to know?" the girls asked at the same time, twin looks of horror on their faces._

_"I have spent many years trying to keep the truth from him. You two are not the first to use the archways however, and I'm afraid that I have not been entirely successful in my endeavor. I have made it so that it isn't his whole focus and that it seems more like a myth, but once again, with the encounter in the Department of Mysteries, and Sirius Black's fate, Voldemort will have figured out that the archways are real, as is Arda."_

_"But why? Why would he want to go there?" Isabella asked. Arianna thought she knew… and that knowledge was like a cold fist in her gut._

_"Bells," she started gently, "their world is full of beauty, kindness, and innocence. But it is also home to evil such as our world has never encountered. Their trolls are smarter, the orcs are numerous and ride those terrible wargs, and I doubt that those are the only creatures there that would join him. Our world has become more regulated, tamed, and conquered. He would have more allies, more for an army, if he went to Arda and stayed." _

_"You are quite right Miss Evergreene… except on one point. He would not stay there… he would destroy it and then travel back to here with his new found army to take over the wizarding world and destroy the muggle one. We cannot let this happen. I have decided that next year I will teach Harry my suspicions on why Voldemort survived, and I would highly recommend if you two planned on finishing your schooling before heading back through the Gateway."_

_"Can't we destroy him before he attempts to go through?" Isabella was trying her hardest to figure out a way to prevent her friends from being exposed to even more evil._

_"I'm afraid not. If my suspicions are correct, we cannot kill Voldemort until the right moment. And I cannot risk lives needlessly in an attempt to keep him from the arch. We shall just have to hope that we can distract him long enough…" The headmaster paused, lost in his thoughts and worries. Shaking his head, he looked at the two girls with grandfatherly affection. _

_"Now I believe I can convince Madam Pomfrey that the best place for you two would home. Mr. Evergreene will be coming to see you this afternoon, right after I inform him of your return. He has been terribly worried, but trusted me to know that you two were- relatively- safe. I had him explain that you were both sent to Arianna's cousin's home in Australia after her aunt had taken ill. We can just say that you two wanted to finish your education here at Hogwarts, which will allow you to be re-enrolled with the new 7th year class. Now if you will excuse me, I have your parents to inform."_

_"Headmaster, how did my mother handle that story?" Isabella asked nervously._

_Looking at her, Dumbledore answered slowly. "She… handled it with ease my dear."_

_Nodding, Isabella hung her head. 'Of course she did' she thought bitterly. Arianna pulled her into a hug, which cheered Isabella up a little._

* * *

"You must have been happy to see your father again" Gandalf said gently. They had listened to the girls for the past 2 hours as they told of their conversations with the Headmaster. He did not like the sound of this Voldemort.

"It was." Surprisingly, Isabella was the one who answered. Arianna was staring at the table, her eyes looking slightly glassy. Glancing at her now silent friend, Isabella continued their story.

* * *

_The girls had spent the summer researching everything ranging from defensive spells, to dragons, to healing spells and protective charms. When school finally started up, the teachers were surprised to learn that Isabella had developed a more serious attitude towards her studies. The girls continued their research and were able to finally start practicing the spells they had learned. Once a month they would meet with Dumbledore to ask if he knew more about what Voldemort was planning. They also tried asking him what he was training Harry but, the Headmaster never told them, instead he would smile and say that they had enough on their plate as it was._

_Before Arda, the girls had their life plans pretty much set. Arianna was going to attend university and become a Charms Mistress while Isabella wanted to become an Auror. Now, however, both just wanted to finish out the year as suggested and then return to the world and dwarves they missed most. Arianna barely even felt a twinge as she thought about missing her NEWTs._

_It was a Saturday night towards the end of their school year when things started falling apart. The girls were in the library when screams caused them to jump up. A fifth year ran in, shouting about Deatheaters being in the castle. Screams and cries of terror filled the air as students started running for the doors._

_"No!" Isabella cried, racing to the front of the frantic mass and slamming the doors shut before anyone could get out. "We stay in here, where we're safe." Arianna pushed to the front in order to help her friend, in case anyone tried something stupid like hexing her._

_"Fifth years and higher, partner up with a younger student. We will be more able to protect each other if we have only a few to focus on." Doing as the red head ordered, the older students found a younger one to partner with. The two girls found themselves with two shaking first year Hufflepuffs. Arianna wrapped her arm around the shoulders of the small boy, while Isabella held the little girl's hand. They pulled both of them farther into the library, after having performed locking spells on the doors. There they waited for about an hour, hearing crashes and spells being cast in the hallways below them. A great shattering was heard, causing all the students to jump. It was later discovered that that had been the noise of Bellatrix Lestrange destroying all the windows in the Great Hall. Eventually, they heard a voice calling for Madam Pince. Recognizing it as Firenze, the castle's resident centaur, the librarian hesitantly unlocked and opened the door, her wand at the ready._

_"Madam Pince... the headmaster has fallen. Everyone is outside in the courtyard." Upon hearing those words, Arianna let out a cry and raced out of the library, Isabella and the rest of the students on her heels. Skidding to a halt, her eyes widened in horror. There, at the base of the Astronomy Tower, was the crumpled form of Albus Dumbledore; kneeling next to him was the sobbing form of Harry Potter. Arianna felt something inside of her shatter. 'What do we do now?' she thought brokenly._

_Dumbledore's funeral was a heart-wrenching affair. Arianna had cried all her tears before and just sat there, dry eyed and lost in shock. Her father, Tim, sat next to her, his arm wrapped around her shoulders. Isabella sat on Tim's other side, his other arm around her shoulders as well, while tears streamed down her face. Isabella's mother was notably absent._

_After the funeral, Arianna caught sight of Harry. Nudging Isabella in the arm, the two girls walked over to him. "I know how important he was to you Harry." Harry glanced at the red head and just nodded. "Harry... we need to tell you something. Can we go somewhere?" Nodding again, Harry allowed the girls to steer him to the abandoned classroom. Once inside, they explained where they had been the year before, Dumbledore's fears, and what they had planned so far. They also explained how to access the archway, gesturing to the desk that stood in the front of the room. Harry looked surprised, then worried, and then thoughtful. Sighing deeply, he decided to explain to the girls exactly what he and Dumbledore had been doing and what he was going to do._

_"Take Ron and Hermione Harry. You know they would gladly go with you."_

* * *

"So, we convinced Harry to include his friends in the plan, even though he would have rather left them out of it, for their own protection. We went home for a week before we were invited to the Burrow. We stayed there for a month, helping the family get ready for Ron's older brother's wedding. At the wedding, we were attacked by deatheaters, causing everyone to scatter and hide. We saw this as our chance to break into Hogwarts and get to the Gateway. Arianna cast "Notice-me-not" spells on the door to the classroom and the desk. Save for Harry, no one will be able to find it. So here we are, and apparently we were only gone for 3 days." Isabella finished.

"What exactly is your Harry's quest?"

"We cannot tell you, as the least number of people that know about it, the better. I'm sorry Gandalf." Isabella answered.

Nodding, Gandalf acknowledged the logic in that statement. Remembering the voice in the mirror, he asked "So what are you two supposed to keep your eyes open for?"

"The twin arch in Arda. As we've already had Elrond seal this one, we're hoping that it will prevent Voldemort from appearing in Rivendell and destroying it."

"Will you be sealing the other one when you find it?" The Elf Lord finally spoke up, wondering how they would go about doing it.

The two girls looked between each other before Arianna finally spoke. "No. Harry and Hermione agree with Dumbledore's reasoning. They feel, and I agree with them slightly, that if Voldemort were to realize that both the arches were now closed, after he had heard that at least one of them was open last year, then he would know that we were on to him. It might cause him to think of the other secrets he has and worry that we may know about them. This would lead to making Harry's job even more difficult and dangerous."

Nodding his acceptance once more at their logic, Gandalf asked something that had been weighing on his mind for a while. It may not seem important in the grand scheme of things he reasoned, but it was making his nose twitch. And he hated when his nose twitched.

"Arianna... what of your father? Did you explain to him where you two had gone again?"

Arianna closed her eyes and Isabella looked at her friend with tears in her eyes once more.

"No Gandalf... we did not" the red head answered softly. "My father is dead. He was killed in a Deatheater raid on my village. Wizards and muggles had lived there together peacefully for a hundred years, with those possessing magic just taking extra precautions to hide it. If there is one thing that Voldemort and his followers hate, it's wizards and muggles mingling. Isabella and I were in Diagon Alley, looking for a pair of two way mirrors so we could try to communicate with Harry while we were here. When we came home, we found the village destroyed with the Dark Mark hanging over head. Father was... lying in the street, not moving." Arianna finished, her dry eyes looking up and locking gazes with Gandalf.

"I _refuse_ to allow that to happen here. This world will _not_ be destroyed. We already know what to do to take down the evil bastard, so Isabella and I will be helping our dwarves take back their home, where they will be safest from this new threat."

Seeing her anger and determination, Gandalf believed every word uttered. He also realized that these girls would die before they allowed Arda to fall to ruin.

"Come, we will set you up with some beds for the night. Sleep well and do not despair. The elves will help stand guard over Arda." Lord Elrond had stood up, his brow creased in worry. Silently gesturing to the elf waiting in the shadows, he had them lead the girls to their rooms.

"Tomorrow we will be going after Thorin" Gandalf confessed to his old friend. "So tonight, let us think on this dire turn of events."

The elf lord nodded as he followed the wizard back to the library. 'Dire turn indeed' he thought.

* * *

**Well, I hope everyone liked it! It's the longest chapter I've ever written as I tried to answer as many questions as possible and fill up some of the gaps. Hopefully it's still believable and not a complete reach lol. Please please please review and let me know what you think!**

**Seriously, all you gotta do is type in the little box down there! It's not that bad :).**


	11. Goblins and Eagles

**Oy... this was a hard chapter for me to write for some reason. It might have to do with the fact that school is starting again tomorrow... err... today now. Or it might have to do with me having an idea for another story and my muse is busy running around with _that_ one. Blahh.**

**Anyway, I hope you all like it! Also, I'm not quite sure how my grammar or spelling turned out in this chapter, as I'm really tired now and just wanted to get this out for you guys, so let me know if I made any mistakes that need to be fixed!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except for my own ideas and characters. Everyone else either belongs to JRR Tolkien or JK Rowling.**

**Special thanks once again to my wonderful reviewers, to the support from LadyDunla, and the wonderful insight from my anonymous guest. All of you guys rock!**

**Oh... and sorry for all the angst by the way... I promise it will end soon. Possibly. I feel like life is always full of angst, just waiting to come out in random moments... which is what will happen in this story. The girls won't dwell on their sadness so much as handle them when they surface.**

* * *

Chapter 11: Goblins and Eagles

For the first time in a month, the girls slept without nightmares. Rivendell seemed to sooth their minds and allow them a few hours of precious peace. All too soon for her liking, Arianna found herself awake and staring at the intricate designs on the elven ceiling. Looking to her right, she smiled as she saw her best friend curled up next to her still asleep. Isabella's bangs fell over her eyes while her newly cut hair stuck out every which way.

Arianna knew that Isabella had been just as affected by her father's death. He had practically raised her raven-haired friend after her own father left. Isabella's mother had successfully hidden her magic from the muggle man she had fallen in love with and married for years; unfortunately, Isabella's accidentally magic blew a hole in _that_ secret. When her father discovered the truth he left his young daughter and wife, disgusted and ashamed.

Arianna reached out and stroked her best friend's head, stuck in memories of Isabella running over to her house in the middle of the night, crying because of her mother's accusations. They had become best friends at the age of 7, after meeting during a muggle game of kickball. The first time Isabella told her the things her mother said to her, Arianna swore to herself that she would try her hardest to make sure her best friend was never sad again.

"_Papa left because of me. Mother says that it's my entire fault and that it's because I'm a bad girl_. _She says that bad girls don't deserve good things." Isabella was sobbing, her voice breaking in the middle of her sentences. Arianna, with all the strength and compassion her 8 years could give her, hugged her friend before stating "Your mother is clearly a poop head. Of course you deserve good things; you have me for a best friend." Isabella raised her eyes in shock at the red head, a nervous smile on her face._

"_Really? You want _me_ to be your _best_ friend?"_

_Nodding vigorously, Arianna smiled. "The very bestest friend. Forever and ever."_

"Forever and ever." Arianna repeated smiling before turning to wake her best friend up. It was time to go find their dwarves.

* * *

Gandalf was already awake when the girls walked out of their room. Passing each of them some honey bread and two apples a piece, he explained their plan.

They were to journey to the Misty Mountains, where Gandalf had instructed Thorin to wait for him. "However, knowing the stubbornness of dwarves as well as I do means that I highly doubt he has stopped at all. Thus, we must leave now for I fear I have stayed away from them for too long already."

Isabella was struck with a strong sadness as she followed Gandalf and Arianna away from the beautiful House of Elrond. She had felt whole and safe there and a part of her didn't want to leave. However, a larger part of her was determined to find and help the company… and see Kili again. She doubted he would recognize her as she barely recognized herself. She hadn't told Arianna this, but the real reason why she cut her hair was because she felt like such a different person that she couldn't handle the familiar reflection staring back at her. Brushing her bangs from her eyes, she saw rain clouds obscuring the peaks of the mountains they were heading for.

'Please let them be safe and not in that storm' she wished.

It had taken them only a day to reach the mountains as Gandalf had pushed them hard. The girls were just settling down to sleep when Gandalf stood up from where he was leaning against a boulder. "I have a very bad feeling about our company. Quickly, we must reach them!" he cried. Both girls grabbed their wands and lit them with a quick "lumos" while they saw Gandalf place a rock in the end of his staff. A strange muttering later and the rock began to glow. Then, to the surprise of both girls, he took off running up the mountain as if it were nothing but a mole hill. Rushing to keep up with him, they scrambled over rocks and loose shale. Suddenly, Gandalf stopped which caused Isabella to run into his back. Gandalf seemed not to notice, as he was looking about wildly. For what, the girls didn't know until he started running again, this time towards a cliff face. Confused, the girls followed him once more until the wizard stopped again, this time in front of the mouth of a cave.

"We must go quickly and quietly in here; stay close behind me."

"What is this place Gandalf?" Arianna asked.

"An entrance to Goblin City where I am afraid our friends have been taken."

* * *

These goblins were not as Isabella thought they would be. Granted, she hadn't been completely expecting the little pointy-nosed angry looking things that she had come to see every time she stepped into Gringotts, but these… these creatures were twisted. Some of them were literally twisted, with limbs that didn't quite match up and faces that not even a mother could love. 'If they even have mothers…' she thought. Shaking her head quickly (thoughts of the reproductive habits or natures of these creatures were _so_ not welcomed right now) she glanced past Gandalf to see how Arianna was handling the sight. From her face, it would seem to be that she was handling it pretty well.

"That is just nasty." The red head whispered, pulling a face.

Then again… perhaps not as well as Isabella thought.

Gandalf placed a hand on each girls' shoulder. "I'm leaving you at this point. Continue around the bend on this ledge. I believe you will see our friends on the other side. I will be traveling to the other side of the city, which will take me longer. Do whatever you must to keep our dwarves safe until I arrive."

Nodding, the girls faces had looks of determination on them as they gripped their wands. Their eyes, he noticed, showed some hints of the fear they must have been feeling inside however. Whether it was for themselves or the dwarves and Bilbo, he couldn't decide. Turning away, he found his path to the other side of the Goblin City, where he would have the best possible vantage point.

* * *

The girls did indeed find their friends… standing on a large wooden platform in the center of the terrible city. A rope bridge connected the path the girls were on to the platform and, surprisingly, it was not covered in goblins. Their friends however, were. In front of them sat a giant blob of a creature on a crude throne.

Arianna was able to make out the hugely disgusting goblin's words and her face paled.

"Bring up the Bone Crusher! If they won't talk, we'll make them squawk! Starting with… the youngest."

Knowing who the youngest was, Arianna prayed that Isabella didn't have as good of hearing as her. Glancing over, she saw her friend's stricken face and knew that she had indeed heard the goblin's words.

"He better not…" she started, making to rush over the bridge. For the first time in their friendship though, Arianna was fast enough to stop her. Pulling her back down, she covered Isabella's mouth just in time to hear the goblin's next words.

"Thorin, son of Thrain, son of Thror, King Under the Mountain. Only… you aren't a King. And you don't have a mountain. Now, I know someone who would pay a great deal for your head. Just your head. An old enemy of yours… a pale orc."

Arianna felt her heart clench as she watched the large goblin order a pitiful, crumpled thing in a chair to go do something. As the little goblin sped away down a rope, she saw a mass of the creatures bringing large contraptions of sharp, pointly objects towards _her_ dwarves. Feeling the bile rising in her throat, she tried not to think of Kili in one of those things. She wouldn't even allow herself the chance to dwell on the thought of a beheaded Thorin.

The goblins had worked themselves into a frenzy as the torture devices had reached the center platform. "Bring up the youngest!" the Great Goblin ordered again. Arianna could see Thorin trying to stop the four goblins that had grabbed Kili.

Isabella realized that Arianna's grip had loosened on her and took advantage of it. Arianna watched in horror as her friend raced across the rope bridge and burst through the group of goblins.

"I'm the youngest!"

Shit. There was only one thing left for Arianna to do then. Running across the bridge as well, she shoved her way past the disgusting goblins, taking them by surprise. 'Idiots' she thought. 'Where in the blazes is Gandalf?!'

* * *

Isabella could feel Kili's gaze on her, but she refused to look at him just yet. Focusing all her attention on the giant creature in front of her, she was surprised by Arianna's voice next to her.

"No, I'm the youngest! And I can scream the loudest too."

Looking at her best friend, Isabella caught Arianna's slight wink. Inwardly smirking at her friend's plan, she turned to face her.

"No you aren't, you old hag! You're at _least_ six months older than me. And besides, you got to play on the Bone Crusher last time! Greedy pants!"

Both girls started circling each other while shouting random insults at the other, identical plans forming in their heads. The goblins were still slightly stunned by their appearance and the self-proclaimed Goblin King seemed to be too entertained by their argument to try to stop them. The girls finally stood still, with Isabella facing the giant goblin. Both had their wands outstretched and the goblins thought it was highly amusing, two female humans fighting each other with sticks for the _right_ to be tortured.

Only the dwarves paid attention to Arianna's evil smirk as she looked at Isabella. Smirking back, Isabella thrust her wand forward, a green bolt of energy leaving it. Arianna barely ducked in time, a look of horror on her face. A roar of rage was heard next, followed by a series of rhythmic thumps. Confused, Arianna whipped around to see the Goblin King doing what looked to be a dance. He was kicking his legs out in a supposed pattern, before leaping sideways on the tips of his toes. Unfortunately, the spell forced him to make one more sideways leap and the entire platform watched in shock as the Great Goblin jumped off the platform, toes pointed perfectly and arms bent in an arch above his head, screaming obscenities the whole time.

"Really? The Tarantella spell? _That's_ the one you chose? You know dozens of spells and you picked the _dancing_ one?! Thank the gods you didn't pick the _tickling_ charm."

Isabella was just standing there, still staring at the spot that the Goblin King had so elegantly leapt off of, a huge smile on her face. Looking around, Arianna realized that the dwarves were all staring at it too, but with looks of surprise instead of smiles. 'Still trying to figure out what they just saw' she thought, laughing out loud. She quickly realized that they were still surrounded by goblins however, when one of them snapped out of its daze and let out an angry roar. Arianna quickly blasted it off its feet but realized that she couldn't do that for the dozens that were now surrounding them. The dwarves had snapped out of their shock as well and were trying to fight the goblins bare-handed.

"Gandalf!" Arianna screamed. "Now would be a _great_ time to show up!"

* * *

They were safe. Barely.

Somehow, the dwarves, wizard and girls all had made it out of the Goblin City relatively unharmed. However, everyone's relief turned to worry as they noticed that their burglar wasn't with them. Everyone was looking around frantically before Bilbo stepped out from behind a tree. Thorin was more shocked than anyone, having harshly declared that the hobbit had seen his chance to return to his home and had taken it. He demanded an explanation for Bilbo's return.

"I know you doubt me, I know you always have. And you're right - I often think of Bag End, I miss my books, and my armchair, and my garden. See, that's where I belong, that's home. That's why I came back - 'cause you don't have one, a home. It was taken from you, but I will help you take it back if I can."

Still smiling at the brave little hobbit, Arianna risked a glance at Thorin; the first one she had allowed herself to make. As if sensing her gaze, he turned to look her in the eye.

"And you two, what in Durin's name did you think you were doing back there?! And _why_ are you back here, I thought you went home, where you belong!"

Arianna snorted. 'Come Dark Lords or Goblin Kings, nothing would ever make Thorin Oakenshield change.'

"Well?" The dwarf king repeated, clearly fuming.

Out of the corner of her eye, Arianna watched as Isabella's face fell, her eyes moving to the ground between her feet in embarrassment. Arianna felt her temper rise in the way that only Thorin could make it. Her friend had been looking forward to getting back to the dwarves since the moment they had left Arda and clearly had not been expecting this reaction. The red head noticed that Isabella was no longer standing near Kili, having moved closer to her.

_I swear she'll never be sad again._ Arianna's 8-year old voice drifted through her mind as she recalled the promise she had sworn to her father the night he explained more fully about Isabella's home situation.

Giving in to her rising temper at the impudent dwarf in front of her, Arianna drew herself up as high as possible. Granted, 5'1" wasn't that impressive of a height, but she would try to make herself as tall as a mountain if need be. Lacing as much sarcasm and anger in her words she spat "Of course, your Majesty. We have spent the past year, which was only three days to you, learning as much as we could to help you. We have experienced the return of the most powerful Dark Wizard of our Age, saw the terror on our friends and families faces as they realized how helpless we really are, saw children _younger_ than us be attacked by his evil followers, cried at the sight of our headmaster's body lying broken on the ground after being betrayed by the person he trusted most, and on top of that, we had to bury my _father_, the _one_ _man_ who always looked out for us and whom we both loved more than anything! All because he decided to protect muggles and his home! And now we're here to protect _you_ Thorin Oakenshield, from a Dark Lord who knows about Arda and is most likely on his way here to destroy it! So that's why we're back you.. .you… stubborn, heartless son-of-a-Dwarf!"

Her chest heaving with emotion, Arianna was appalled to find her cheeks wet. Still staring at Thorin, she took particular joy at his contrite face before eerily familiar howls rang out.

A look of such weariness crossing his face, Thorin sighed. "Out of the frying pan…"

"And into the fire. Run!" Gandalf ordered them.

* * *

Isabella had been pulled aside by Kili the minute they had stopped running from the underground city.

"You cut your hair..." he said softly, looking at the face he thought he would never see again.

All she could do was nod... her brain had fled the minute he had pulled her over to him. "I'm sorry for leaving." she said quietly, finally discovering her ability to speak. "I didn't want to."

Suddenly, Thorin started shouting at her and Arianna. Hurt and ashamed at his reaction, she refused to look at Kili again for fear of seeing the same anger in his eyes that Thorin held in his voice. Inching closer to her best friend, Isabella just stared at the ground, all her Gryffindor bravery leaving her. She had dreamed of meeting them again every night for a year and now that her wish had come true, it seemed that they weren't even wanted.

After thinking that, she startled as she heard Arianna start screaming at Thorin. Looking at her best friend, she watched in shock as tears started spilling out of the red head's eyes as the verbal release of all the pain she had felt the past month slammed into the temperamental dwarf in front of them. As her friend's tirade came to a close, Isabella wrapped her arm around her in comfort as she finally looked up at the completely shamed dwarf king.

The howl of a warg completely destroyed what ever chance Thorin had at a quick apology though

* * *

Arianna was going to curse that dwarf once she got her hands on him. Her earlier rage had changed into panic and fear. Fear of losing another person that she cared about. For she did care about Thorin she realized. Cared about him more than just as a platonic friend, more than just respecting his strength and confidence. Even when he was putting his foot in his mouth, she wanted to hug him and kiss that stubborn mouth... after slapping him of course. Hanging on the eagle beneath her, she begged to the gods to keep him alive.

"Please don't take him too."

* * *

**Sooo... what did you guys all think? I hope you all liked it! Please leave me beautiful reviews to make my first day of Spring Semester bearable :).**

**Seriously... I have a Jurisprudence class at 8am. Have mercy lol. **


	12. Caves and Feelings

**Hey guys, sorry for taking so long to update. School is already kicking my butt and it's only the first week lol. Don't worry though, I tried to make it up to you guys ;).**

**I PROMISE THIS IS THE LAST CHAPTER WITH ANGST! *pinky swears... with crossed fingers behind her back, just in case***

**Disclaimer: I own nothing! Seriously... broke college student here lol.**

**Thank you to Mistress Serah and LadyDunla for their wonderful reviews!**

* * *

As Isabella clung to the back of her best friend on the giant eagle, her thoughts drifted back to the latest battle.

* * *

_ For as long as Isabella had known her best friend, she had never seen her approach any situation in a manner other than logical and cool headed. So when she watched Bilbo tackle the orc that was about to kill Thorin, the last thing she expected to see her best friend run screaming after him before punching a second orc straight in the nose. Isabella didn't understand… Arianna was acting as though she had completely forgotten she was a witch. Isabella was terrified that Arianna would be killed. She wore no armor, had no weapon other than her fists and nails, which she was currently digging into the stunned orc's eyes._

_Isabella started running in after her friend, casting a protego around her just as a second orc decided that Arianna's head would look better off her shoulders. Fortunately, Isabella thought that the monster would look better blown to pieces and thus hit it with a powerful reducto. Reaching Arianna's side, she hit the orc her friend was scratching the face off of with a stupefy. She grabbed the red head's upper arm, in an attempt to drag her off of the creature. Her friend's eyes were wild as she whipped her head around to stare at Isabella, as if she didn't recognize her. Recognition began to show in her eyes however and a small whisper of "Isabella?" had the raven-haired teen clutching her friend to her chest, shaking while Kili, Fili, Bofur and Dwalin charged around them at the orcs._

_Suddenly, Isabella heard screeching and wings. Still clutching Arianna, she looked up and saw the largest eagle in the world._

_'Well… maybe for this world it's quite small' she thought ruefully._

_It was the size of an overgrown hippogriff and, judging by its vicious grip on a warg and its rider, it had the anger of an insulted one too. Before she knew it though, said eagle had flown back and grabbed her and Arianna in its talons. Arianna's scream of fright (she had never been a fan of heights and flying) had Isabella breathing a sigh of relief. At least her friend wasn't in a state of shock anymore and knew what was happening around her. The sudden free fall and landing on a different eagle's back had Arianna screaming once again and Isabella made sure to hold her best friend tightly to her. Arianna had wrapped her shaking hands into the eagle's feathers and stared at the eagle in front of them that had Thorin's prone form in its talons._

_Isabella looked around her until she spotted Kili and Fili a couple eagles over. Fili was shouting his uncle's name while Kili was just staring ahead of him. As if Kili sensed her eyes, he turned his head and appeared to look at her. He was too far away for her to tell if he_ was_ actually looking at her, but a small part of her heart decided that he was._

_It was Arianna's whisper of "Please don't take him too" that dragged Isabella's eyes away from Kili's form and back to her friend. Hugging her closer, Isabella whispered reassuringly to her best friend._

_"He'll be alright Arianna. Gandalf can save him and we can heal him. He'll be alright."_

* * *

That had been at least an hour ago and Isabella found herself shaken from her ruminating by the sight of a large rock formation jutting towards the sky. It appeared that this was their destination as the eagles started circling it, gradually dropping from the sky to deposit their passengers. Thorin was gently laid upon the flat top, with Gandalf jumping off his eagle after him. The minute their eagle touched down, Arianna leapt onto the rock, stumbling slightly as her legs had fallen asleep. Isabella sprang down after her friend, realizing her legs were slightly numb as well. Half running, half falling, Arianna rushed to Thorin's side only to be stopped by Fili.

"Let Gandalf do his work Arianna. You're too upset right now, I can't let you near him. I'm sorry."

"Let me go, please! Please let me go!"

Isabella had only heard her friend beg in such a way once before. It had been the night they had found Mr. Evergreene lying dead; Arianna had run to his side and was shaking him, begging him to wake up and come inside. And as before, Isabella felt her heart shatter at that tone. Her normally composed friend, her friend that had held her through her nightmares of her mother and father, that was always there to get her out of trouble, was once again breaking before her eyes.

Both girls hadn't noticed that Gandalf had finally managed to succeed in his task until a deep voice was heard.

"The Halfling?" Thorin's voice was weak, but upon hearing it Arianna relaxed instantly. Fili apparently thought that she was well enough to leave as he had walked over with Kili to help Thorin stand. Isabella wrapped an arm around Arianna's shoulders and moved her away from the group of dwarves as Thorin started, once again, scolding poor Bilbo. Both girls just stood there and watched, too exhausted to do much else.

"I have never been more wrong in my entire life." Thorin stated, wrapping his arms around the surprised little hobbit. All of the dwarves cheered while Isabella and Arianna merely gave relieved laughs.

"Arianna? Isabella? Guys? Are you there?"

Both girls looked around comically, trying to find the feminine voice calling them. Arianna's exhausted brain realized what it was only a few seconds later and reached into her shoulder bag (it had somehow survived her wild attack of the orc) and pulled out the mirror.

Hermione's face was staring back at her and Isabella as the two girls crowded around it.

"There you guys are! What happened? You look terrible!"

"Thanks Hermione, you look just peachy yourself."

Waving her hand as if brushing away Isabella's sarcastic response, Hermione jumped right in to the reason why she had called them.

"We found the real one; The Toad had it and we broke into the Ministry and took it. We don't know how to destroy it just yet, but we're at least able to keep it safe. Grimmauld Place was discovered so we're in hiding somewhere else. Have you two been able to find anything yet?" The teenagers had decided that they would speak as vaguely as possible, in case they were over heard by the wrong people.

Not aware that the dwarves had all turned away from the sight of their beloved Erebor and were now watching the two girls listen to a mirror, Arianna answered.

"We haven't found the second one yet but we've only been here for about 4 days now. We've just found our Company again and got through the Misty Mountains relatively unharmed. Stay safe my friends; we'll call you when we've found it. Keep us informed of how your hunt goes." Arianna then placed the mirror back in her bag once again and looked up. She felt more composed now that Thorin was standing and no longer was as still as death. She supposed that a part of her had seen her father lying there instead of Thorin and that that had been a reason for her slight breakdown.

Most of it though was due to the feelings she had finally admitted that she had for the stubborn and proud dwarf now walking towards them. Too emotionally and physically drained to answer his questions at this moment though, she held her hand up as soon as he opened his mouth.

"Once we've found a place to stay for the night, Isabella and I will explain everything. Deal?"

An abrupt nod was all she got for an answer.

* * *

Thus, the girls found themselves in a cave cut into the Carrock, which was the name some man named Beorn had given the giant rock structure, or so Gandalf said. After a meager dinner with the supplies they had left, Isabella started talking.

She told the dwarves about their journey back to Hogwarts, the conversation they had with their Headmaster, and their last year at Hogwarts. When she reached the part about Dumbledore's death, Isabella's voice started cracking. An arm wrapped itself around her shoulders. Startled, Isabella turned her head to look at it's owner. Kili was sitting there, staring back at her with sympathy and concern in his dark eyes. Giving him a sad smile, she rested her head on his shoulder and continued. She told them of Harry and his prophesy and she explained their plan; at least, the plan they had thus far. When she got to the day of Arianna's father's death, she looked at her friend worriedly.

The red head was staring into the fire with dry eyes as she was unable to cry anymore and all that filled her now was a sense of injustice. They were only 18, having missed a whole year of their lives while here the first time. Harry was only 17 and the fate of two worlds lay on his shoulders. Looking up, she half heard Isabella explain the attack on Bill and Fleur's wedding and how they got back to Arda.

Finally done with their story, Isabella eyes closed in exhaustion as Kili gently stroked her head. None of the company said anything, just stared at the girls that had left them less than 5 days ago but had come back looking years older. Bofur finally broke the silence.

"This Voldemort character that ye say is coming here. When will he be here?"

"We don't know." Arianna finally spoke up. "We've blocked the arch in Rivendell, so we know he can't make it through there. However, Hermione and I have come up with a theory that if you focus on a destination hard enough, the Arch will comply and take you there. We don't believe Voldemort has this theory yet and we _think_ that when he uses the archway, he will be focused on one of the two arches in Arda instead of a location. And as one is blocked, this only leaves the hidden arch as his entry point. Therefore, this gives us an advantage. One of our only advantages."

Bilbo looked thoughtful at this.

"We can look for the arch while we hunt and gather wood instead of just while we walk. Do you know what it looks like?" All the dwarves nodded, thinking that Bilbo's plan, while possibly obvious, made sense.

"We think it'll look similar to the one in Rivendale. It is it's twin after all." Isabella chimed in, stifling a yawn. Kili still had his arm wrapped around her shoulders and looked relieved when Thorin announced that everyone should get some sleep.

"I will take first watch" Dwalin spoke up, moving to sit by the entrance to the cave.

* * *

"I missed you."

Kili had managed to get Isabella over to a secluded area, even away from his brother and was finally able to speak with her freely. Brushing her bangs from her eyes, he wrapped her up in his arms and clutched her to his chest. He couldn't make out her murmured response and before he could ask her to repeat it, he felt her completely relax in his arms. Looking down, he smiled softly. Isabella had tucked her head into his side with her hands resting under her head as a pillow. Kili gently kissed her forehead and laid his head down, facing Isabella.

Fili was watching Kili. He knew that his brother cared for the raven-haired witch but, he hadn't realized how much. Seeing his brother holding the girl as if she would break, Fili smiled softly. Moving over towards the two, he laid on his back next to Isabella.

"This way brother, we will keep her warm." Kili just nodded in response, closing his eyes.

* * *

Arianna woke up with a quiet gasp. She had fallen asleep by the fire curled up next to Bilbo and Bofur. Glancing over, she saw that the miner was holding Bilbo, almost as if he was afraid the hobbit would slip out into the night. Unbeknownst to her, that was in fact one of Bofur's reasons. The other was that Bofur had almost died while watching Bilbo throw himself in front of the wounded Thorin and had fallen asleep still trying to prove that Bilbo was, in fact, safe beside him.

Raising herself up on her elbows, she looked around the cave. Dwalin, she noted, was still on watch and quietly speaking with Thorin. Gandalf was propped up against the back of the cave wall, supposedly sleeping. Gloin and Oin were sleeping near Nori, Ori and Dori with Ori sandwiched between his older brothers. Dwalin was sleeping by Bombur and Bifur, the latter muttering something in Khuzdul in his sleep. Farther to the right of the cave slept Fili, Kili, and Isabella. Arianna could see that Isabella had her back pressed up to Kili's front, with Kili's left arm wrapped around her waist and her head pillowed on his right arm. Fili was lying on his back, his head turned towards the main group.

"Why are you awake child?" Dwalin's voice drifted over to her, making her turn her head to look at the tattooed dwarf. Thorin was also looking at her, slight concern on his face.

"Bad dreams" Arianna replied, shrugging casually. Quietly she stood up. "I'm going to get some air."

Walking out of the cave, she was aware of Thorin following her.

Keeping her back to him, she crossed her arms. The night was cool and crisp and the air brought back memories of late summer camping trips with Isabella and her father. Breathing deeply, Arianna hoped that she never forgot about those trips.

Sensing Thorin beside her, she started to talk.

"When I first met you, I was determined to figure out why you were the way you were. I always loved a good mystery. " Smiling softly and hugging herself, she turned to Thorin.

"After my father died, I understood immediately. It's the only way you can survive, isn't it? It's the only way you can deal with everything- by making sure nothing can affect you."

Thorin felt his heart crack at the red head's now sad smile as she kept talking.

"For the first time in my life, I wish that I didn't know something Thorin. I'm sorry but, I wish that I didn't understand you. I wish that I could go back, that I had never come here… but then I realize that father didn't die because I came here. He died because of a mad man."

Arianna turned back to looking out across the land spread before her.

Thorin stared at the woman in front of him. Yes, she infuriated him at times as she was never afraid to speak her mind and more times than not, she was speaking it _against_ him. Granted, most times he deserved it. He held no illusions about his personality. 'Tempermental' was putting it mildly. He was stubborn at the best of times, and a right bastard at the worst. While the red head standing in front of him seemed to always bring out his temper, it was only because he was frustrated by the emotions he felt every time he saw her face, as sappy as that sounded.

And, he admitted to himself, she was adorable when she set her jaw and tried to make herself taller than him.

Right now, however, she was the one that came back. His words echoed in his head… _loyalty, honor, and a willing heart._ She had lost her mentor and her father. Her world was on the verge of collapse and still, she came back to save _them_. He felt an intense sensation of guilt for having doubted both of the girls, but mainly for doubting her.

With this knowledge he gently turned her back to him.

Bringing his hand up to her cheek, Thorin just looked in Arianna's eyes, wishing he could chase the sadness in them away. His other hand rested on the curve of her waist as he leaned down and touched her forehead with his own.

"I would take all your pain away if I could. I would bring back your father and destroy the one that hurt you. I would lift this weight off of your shoulders and carry it for you within a heartbeat. Please… tell me how I can help you because everything I wish I could do, I can't."

Arianna was quiet for a minute and Thorin could swear he heard her thoughts as they raced through her head. Her pulse was quick and strong under his hand and Thorin thanked Aule for that. Dwalin had told him of the recklessness she had showed, throwing herself unarmed at an orc and physically attacking him. Clenching his jaw slightly, Thorin swore that he would somehow manage to get her to agree _not_ to do that again. At least not until he got her some armor.

Thorin almost missed the feel of Arianna's soft lips upon his own, so lost in his thoughts of how to convince the headstrong creature in front of him to better protect herself. Her lips stayed on his for barely a second before she pulled away, a shy smile on her face.

"Promise you won't leave. Promise you won't do something as foolish as what you did today and end up dead. Promise you won't die." Her voice trailed off into a whisper.

Unable to tell her that her request was an impossible one to guarantee, Thorin settled for not saying anything and just nodded. If that was what it took to make her happier, he would attempt to keep that promise. Running his hands through her curly hair, he gently gripped the back of her head and pulled her mouth back to his own.

It was a chaste kiss, innocent and careful, as if Arianna might break if he was too forceful. Or so he thought. Arianna apparently had a different view on how the kiss should go and therefore after a few seconds, she opened her lips and slipped her tongue out for a quick taste of his lips. Groaning, Thorin wrapped an arm around the small of her back and tightened the remaining hand buried in her hair, pulling her close to him and further deepening the kiss.

Arianna couldn't breathe, nor did she want to as it would force her away from Thorin's mouth. That was entirely unacceptable in her book, so she instead decided to wrap her hands in his wild hair, determined to prevent his mouth from leaving hers. His tongue was currently tracing wicked little pictures in her mouth, as if detailing all the things he would do to her eventually.

After a few minutes though, both of them needed air. Her hands still in his hair, Arianna gasped for breath and looked up through her lashes at Thorin. His eyes seemed to burn a path straight down into her soul, leaving it bare and open for his perusal. For some reason though, she wasn't frightened by this. Instead, she had never felt as safe as she did in this moment.

Gradually, she untangled her hands from his hair and gave him her first true smile in the past few months.

However, she noticed that Thorin's deep breaths seemed to be causing him some pain. While he tried to act like he wasn't bothered by it, Arianna could tell that it was just his stubbornness coming out. Lightly stroking his brow, she whispered to him. "I know a spell that will heal your ribs. Come with me." Pressing a light kiss on his lips, she started walking back towards the cave.

Deciding for once not to argue, Thorin followed behind her, his heart feeling lighter with each step he took. He quickly schooled his expression into one of indifference however. Even if all of his men except for Dwalin were sleeping, it wouldn't do for him to look like a lovesick puppy.

The tattooed dwarf would never let him hear the end of it.

* * *

**How did I do with the kissing? Gah it's my first intimacy scene... I'm nervous! And I hope everyone enjoyed the Kili/Isabella moment and yeah... there was some Bilbo/Bofur there. I regret nothing!**

**Please review and let me know how you liked it! Pretty please?**


	13. Feasts and Introductions

**I did it! I have no idea why this chapter was so hard to write; it might have something to do with school lol. I tried to branch out and write more about the other dwarves and... well... we meet a new character. *crosses fingers* Hopefully he doesn't become the Jar Jar Binks of my story! Also, I apologize for any grammar and spelling mistakes. I'm so tired but I wanted to post this tonight :).**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

**Thank you once again to all my reviews, views, favorites, and followers. You guys are the best!**

* * *

Chapter 13: Feasts and Introductions

Smiling slightly at the feeling of a strong arm wrapped around her waist, Arianna started waking up. Her favorite way of going about this was to do so slowly- she loved nothing more than savoring the feeling of gently rising out of her dreams and becoming more aware of the world around her. She also thought that there was nothing better than a slow, half asleep stretch as her mind started going through everything she needed to do that day.

"Arianna! Oops, sorry Thorin, didn't see you there!"

Heaving a giant sigh, Arianna mentally waved goodbye to her quiet morning ritual. Cracking open an eye, she glanced at the eager face of Isabella in front of her, whose hand was outstretched in an attempt to shake her awake. Deciding to tackle the easiest challenge first, Arianna raised a single eyebrow (a trait she would never admit to acquiring from a certain potions-master-turned-traitor).

"How did you not see Thorin?"

Isabella would not be deterred though and grabbed Arianna's hand, dragging her to her feet. Glancing back, Arianna took in the immensely grumpy-looking Thorin, either at Isabella accidentally jostling him in her attempt to wake up Arianna or at the fact that Arianna was no longer tucked next to him. Either way, Arianna couldn't help but smile at him. She felt lighter somehow, more whole. She figured that talking long into the night with him was the reason for it. After she had healed his cracked ribs, she was still unable to sleep so, Thorin told her stories of growing up in Erebor and Arianna had told him stories of Hogwarts. Neither spoke of Arianna's father or the fall of Erebor, choosing instead to focus on happier topics.

"Alright so, I had an idea. I figured out how we could test your and Hermione's theory about the Arch, you know, the one where someone can focus on an area to go to and you'll go there? But that it was too risky so you guys didn't want to test it so… I realized that the answer was to use a house elf! I figured that Harry could call Dobby and get Dobby to suggest a good one and, well, he did." Isabella had said this all so quickly that she was gasping for breath at the end.

"What do you mean, 'he did'? Why are you speaking in past tense? What did you do Isabella? You can't ask a house elf to go through the Arch to test out one of our crack-brain theories! Please tell me Hermione said no. Please tell me that she was able to knock some sense into you two!" Arianna's outburst had attracted the attention of the company now and Ori, who was sitting closest to the girls, piped up.

"What's a house elf?" Ori tried to hide his little shudder of fear as he pictured one of the fair folk, but this time much, _much_ larger.

Isabella opened her mouth, no doubt to _helpfully_ enlighten the young dwarf, when a squeaky voice was heard.

"Take me to Miss Isabella; she's in a cave. Take me to Miss Isabella; she's in a cave."

* * *

Thorin didn't know how to handle the present situation. He had listened to Isabella's excited ramblings and had watched as Arianna's face grew less and less amused. He startled though at the mention of "elf". He didn't care what came in front of it: High, Wood, or House; an elf was an elf. They were disloyal and not to be trusted.

So when a waist-high, floppy-eared, large-eyed creature appeared in the midst of the cave, chanting to be brought to Isabella, none were more surprised than the Dwarf King.

Arianna had whipped around (as did all the other dwarves, one wizard, and a wide-eyed hobbit- Isabella was too busy trying to look innocent) and stared at the tiny creature as it repeated its mantra. It was wearing a deep blue velvet fitted smock with the Hogwarts crest on its front and its large eyes were squeezed shut. Its entire body was shaking with effort as it attempted to focus as hard as possible and a bag was clutched in its hands. It was a simple blue cloth drawstring bag and had a large scarlet R sewn on the outside of it.

"You picked Roger?!"

Well, none more surprised than Thorin and Arianna.

* * *

The little creature opened his eyes at Arianna's shout. Thorin watched it, still confused as to _what _it was exactly and where the thrice-damned house elf was. He saw how the creature focused in on the two arguing girls-well, one cowering raven-haired girl and one screaming red head- but Thorin supposed that was how their arguments normally went.

"Miss Isabella! Miss Arianna! Roger found you! Dobby told Roger to go through the big stone and Roger did! Roger thought really _really_ hard and here Roger is! And Roger brought food! Dobby said that Miss Isabella wanted food and Roger brought it! Roger hopes he brought enough- Roger heard that there was a family of Weasleys to feed!"

The comical-looking creature had thrown itself between the two girls and had somehow hugged both of their knees to his tiny chest.

"_Eat_ _like_ a family of Weasleys Roger, not are a family of Weasleys." Isabella had somehow extricated his hands from around her and Arianna's knees and had knelt down, hugging the excited creature to her chest. Arianna followed suit, all the while checking Roger over to make sure he was okay.

The pieces were starting to fall into place for Thorin. The way the girls greeted this Roger, the things he said; it was almost as if-

"Is this the house elf? I was expecting something… taller."

Neither girl answered as Arianna was still in the middle of scolding Isabella for her hair-brained idea while continuing to check Roger over for any injuries. Isabella was now looking at the ground and scuffing her feet while Roger was excitedly describing the various foods he had brought from Hogwarts and expressing his hopes that it would be enough.

Annoyed at being ignored, and by Arianna no less, Thorin strode across the cave with the intent of making them answer his questions. However, the dwarf stopped dead in his tracks as the now released Roger started pulling out food from the tiny bag. Out came a pork roast, quickly followed by two roasted turkeys and three large shepherd pies. Thorin couldn't remember the last time any of the dwarves in the company had food that smelled and looked that good.

It turned out that Roger also brought eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, cheeses, roast beef sandwiches, turkey sandwiches, several large flasks of pumpkin juice and a various assortment of desserts. Arianna shot Roger a confused look and commented on the strange array of food.

"Roger didn't know when he would be arriving Miss. Would it be breakfast, lunchtime or dinner? Roger couldn't decide and so brought food for all of them!"

Isabella could only laugh at the expressions on the dwarves faces, especially Kili's. With open mouths and wide eyes, the dwarves just stared at the tiny house elf, as if not quite believing what they were seeing. Deciding that perhaps she and Arianna had been a little rude (not introducing the company to Roger and all), Isabella cleared her throat.

"Everyone, this is Roger. He's… well, it's a long story, but he's one of our friends. Roger, this is Ori, Nori, Dori, Bofur, Bifur, Bombur, Oin, Gloin, Dwalin, Balin, Fili, Kili, Bilbo, Gandalf, and Thorin." She gestured to each member in turn as she announced their name, Roger giving them all a quick bow.

"Roger is happy to meet the friends of his Miss Isabella and Miss Arianna! Roger hopes you like the food."

Looking back, Thorin wasn't quite sure how he had gained control over his hungry dwarves, and the fact that he did only proved to him how much they respected him. He had somehow managed to get them to not immediatelly rush and eat all the food at once, as he didn't know when they would be able to replenish their supplies again. The strange creature had hastily assured him that any leftover food would keep, as "Roger was a good house elf and knows how to save food".

He had then watched in amazement as the tiny thing forced everyone to sit down and passed out equal portions of all the food, effectively reinforcing Thorin's orders and ensuring left over food for lunch and possibly dinner.

Thorin saw that Arianna wasn't eating just yet, too absorbed in scolding someone through their mirror (Thorin assumed it to be the boy Harry) about being reckless and irresponsible. He winced as he heard a feminine voice on the other end ask what was going on and Arianna once again launched into a description of just _what_ Isabella and Harry did. Although, the girl (Hermin? Thorin was having a problem remembering her name) seemed more excited about the fact that it worked than the fact that it happened. He watched as Arianna sighed, knowing that she had lost this battle, and started telling how Roger had showed up and what he had told her.

* * *

Seeing Isabella's happy smile as she told of how she had met Roger during her first year at Hogwarts made Kili happier than he thought possible. He laughed when she described her mad dash from the castle's caretaker (he thought she called him Filch) and his cat, in which she got herself stuck in a dead end hallway after curfew. Somehow she had attracted the attention of a house elf cleaning in a side room and, being quite partial to troublemaking himself, the elf quickly hid her in a closet and denied seeing anyone to the "barmy and cantankerous old man". Arianna fervently denied Isabella's claims of her being too excited about the prospect of meeting a house elf to scold her friend the next day.

So the girls had somehow developed a strange friendship of sorts with the elf during their first year. He was Isabella's partner in crime for many of her pranks and was Arianna's caretaker of sorts, making sure she remembered to eat when all she wanted to do was study. It was actually Arianna's idea to start calling the house elf "Roger", partially as a code name but mainly because she was tired of Isabella forgetting his real one all the time. She often found herself wondering how her friend had been able to remember her class schedule that year since she couldn't even remember a name.

Roger didn't seem to mind one bit though and even went so far as demanding that the other house elves start calling him Roger as well. The girls made sure that none of the teachers knew about their Roger, as none of them were sure if he'd get in trouble. Even if he wouldn't, it wasn't something they were willing to risk.

* * *

Ori was too excited for words, which could have been partially due to him having a mouthful of food, but more likely than not it was because he had something new to learn.

And draw.

So the youngest dwarf sat between his two older brothers, fork in one hand, charcoal pencil in the other, drawing the small creature. He had tried many times before to draw Isabella's various escapades, but most of them just turned into her running from various authority figures. Which, if Isabella was honest with herself, was really how they all went.

Ori made sure that he quickly sketched the three of them together, Arianna's wide smile and Isabella's laugh not something he wanted any of them to forget. He knew that he could put more details into the drawing later from memory but, right now he wanted to get the essence of the moment down.

* * *

Dwalin wasn't sure what he thought of the waist-high elf. While it did bring some satisfactory food, he didn't see much use for it beyond that. He knew that it would only become a burden; one which the dwarves would be forced to bear no less.

Therefore it was with a groan that Dwalin found himself being volunteered to carry his pack with the small creature perched on top. Granted, they had lost so many supplies and the thing was so small that it didn't make the pack any heavier than he was used to but, it was the thought that bothered him.

He wasn't a pony, blast it.

His protests fell on deaf ears however, as his brother just smiled and patted him on the back while everyone else acted like _their_ packs weighed as much as a grown warg. Thorin had just looked at him in a way that clearly likened his protests to those made by an elf maiden.

While he definitely wasn't a pony, he most _certainly_ wasn't an elf maiden.

Resigning himself to his fate, Dwalin swung his pack onto his back and looked down at the creature bobbing around the company. Reaching a hand out, he caught its collar as it flitted around him, forcing it to stop.

"Will you need help getting on or can you manage by yourself?" Dwalin growled out, quite pleased that his tone was almost as intimidating at Thorin's.

That feeling died however as the elf squeaked "Roger can do it himself Sir!" and proceeded to use Dwalin's limbs and beard as a ladder, clambering up onto the dwarf's bag. Horrified, Dwalin refused to make eye contact with any of the company, fully aware of Fili and Kili's snickering and Roger's proud "See Sir? Roger said he could do it."

Vowing to make the Durin heirs regret their mockery, Dwalin proudly strode over to Thorin, waiting for the order to move out. _It could be worse_ he reasoned with himself. _The girls could decide to walk with me as well. _He assumed that they would want to walk with Kili and Thorin and leave him in peace.

Dwalin's hopes that the girls would walk with their respective dwarves, or just together, or with Bilbo, Ori, Bofur or even Gandalf lasted about 5 minutes.

* * *

Thorin was trying his hardest not the laugh at his friend. Dwalin's face was such a picture of misery that he almost felt bad for the dwarf. This was the best solution though, as Thorin wouldn't let Fili or Kili carry the elf; two troublemakers was enough, he didn't need all five of them walking together- no matter what feelings he had for the red headed one. Ori would just be swarmed, Nori and Dori really wouldn't put up with it and would probably just pass the elf off to their younger brother.

Bofur, Bifur and Bombur would have been acceptable choices he supposed, but he doubted their ability to control the youngest members of the company if they decided to prank Bilbo. Thorin owed the hobbit his life, he figured the least he could do was protect him from his nephews.

Therefore, the only acceptable choice he saw was Dwalin. The warrior wouldn't allow his nephews to get away with anything and the two girls would be too busy talking to attempt anything. Their talking around Dwalin wasn't as innocent as they wanted it to seem… they would always pick that time to gossip about various people back home and randomly burst into giggles. Thorin himself had caught them smirking evilly during breakfast and nodding over to Dwalin; he knew the dwarf was in for a huge headache tonight. While he knew that it would have annoyed him before, now he couldn't stop thinking of Arianna's eyes last night and how sad and lost they had looked. During breakfast though they were full of life and laughter, as if the girls had never left.

All he wanted was to make sure her eyes never looked that way again.

* * *

The girls were too focused on the climb down to talk, something Dwalin was extremely thankful for. He really didn't mind the girls company as much as he appeared to; it was just that they seemed to endlessly chatter around him about stuff that no self-respecting dwarf cared about.

The house elf perched on his back was thankfully silent as well.

The company reached the bottom with the Carrock by mid-morning and with the end of the dwarves descent came the end of Dwalin's precious silence. To his surprise though, it wasn't the girls doing the talking, it was Roger.

The house elf talked about Hogwarts, the changes and new "regimen" as the students had taken to calling it. He told of the Carrows and their new teaching ideals and, more importantly, methods of punishment. Roger, it seemed, was keeping up to his mischievous ways, except this time instead of helping Isabella sneak away from Filch, he was sneaking food and potions to injured students.

"When Roger heard that his friends needed him, Roger told Dilly that he was in charge. Roger had taken Dilly with him a few times while sneaking the students potions, so Dilly knows what to do."

Dwalin felt grudging respect for the tiny creature he was carrying as the girls started pelting it with questions about their friends and teachers, what the Order and Aurors were doing, if any of the Deatheaters (whatever those were) knew about Harry and his friends, and if any of them had found the Arch in Hogwarts.

"Hogwarts promised Roger that she would hide it."

The two girls looked at each other. "Hogwarts can _talk_?"

"Not talk as Roger or you can" the elf explained " but, she was the one that let Roger leave. Wizards think that we house elves work for the Headmaster when we really work for Hogwarts, which is why Roger could leave without greasy man knowing."

Glancing behind him, Dwalin saw the girls faces- Arianna's was lost in thought, most likely running through all the possibilities this new information created and Isabella looked sick at the thought of Hogwarts students having to torture or be tortured. He would be the first dwarf to admit that the best way to handle a problem was to cut its head off but, in this situation there was nothing the girls could do to help their friends. Realizing that he would have to do something he never thought he would be willingly to do for all the gold in Erebor, Dwalin internally sighed.

He seemed to be doing that a lot today.

Turning around, he looked at Isabella and steeled himself, all but growling out his next few words.

"As there aren't any wargs, orcs, or trolls coming to eat us today, I think I'll become bored. Tell me a story."

The smiles he got from the girls and nod of approval from his King made his sacrifice worth it. _Perhaps_, he thought, _it wouldn't be too bad._

* * *

**__I really wasn't expecting Dwalin to take control of this chapter... I did expect it from Roger though lol. I hope everyone liked it!**


	14. Titles and House Elves

**This chapter is for LadyDunla, who gave me the last extra motivation to get this chapter out! You are the best!**

**I'm sorry to everyone for taking so long to write this chapter. I had writer's block but, I think I worked through it pretty well! Hopefully you all like it :). I should mention that school is going crazy right now and won't be able to write another chapter for a while. And now... time to get back to homework! (I just want to sleeeeeeppppp!) **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing! Except for Roger, Arianna and Isabella- They're all mine!**

**Thank you to all my viewers, reviewers, followers and favorites! You guys are the greatest!**

* * *

Chapter 14: Titles and House Elves

It should be noted that while the girls _did_ introduce the dwarves to Roger, did explain he was a house elf and did tell the story of how they had become friends, there was one thing that they didn't do.

They didn't answer Ori's question about what exactly a house elf _was_.

Which, looking back on it now, probably would have helped the company more than the stories of mischief the three told.

If they were absolutely honest with themselves, the girls would realize that they themselves barely understood exactly what made a house elf, a house elf. For the tiny beings were more than the creatures that picked up your messes, that cooked for you, or cared for your family.

They kept your secrets, helped raise your children, and loved you more than you loved yourself (as long as you treated them properly of course). They would even die protecting you or believe in your ideals well beyond your own lifespan.

None of the company knew this however, and so the first morning with the house elf passed in ignorance.

* * *

Roger did not know what Mister Bombur was doing. Didn't Mister Bombur know that that was _Roger's_ job? And there! Misters Fili and Kili were gathering wood!

_No no no- Roger is a bad elf!_

"Be still little one." Dwalin was watching, concern on his face as the tiny creature clutched his ears and shook his head, wide eyes filling with tears. When those eyes turned up to meet Dwalin's, the large dwarf felt a jolt of compassion pass through his body.

_What had made the little thing so upset?_

Having decided to voice his thoughts aloud, Dwalin was shocked by his answer.

"Roger is a Bad Elf; he should be taking care of everyone. Instead he sits here." The tattooed dwarf wasn't sure if he'd ever get used to the elf referring to himself in the third person all the time. Then he realized that the elf was _upset_ that he wasn't helping.

_Well, we may be able to make use of him yet._

"Well if that's all lad, then you can do as much as you want when we stop for dinner. I'll let Bombur and the others know."

Dwalin couldn't deny the spark of pride he felt at seeing the elf's eyes light up.

"Oh thank you sir! You are a Great and Noble dwarf!" the tiny thing cried before running off to Arianna and Isabella. Dwalin could hear the elf's high-pitched voice explain to the girls about what the "Great and Noble Dwalin" had promised. And if he straightened his back just a little bit more at the house elf's name for him, well...

He'd never admit to anything.

* * *

After lunch, Dwalin once again carried the now-happy creature on his bag. The girls had decided to walk up with Thorin however, and they appeared to be in the middle of a serious conversation. Dwalin really wanted to casually walk faster and hear what it was they were discussing and as he was about to put his plan in motion, he realized that he wasn't walking by himself anymore.

And from the sounds of it, he hadn't been for a few minutes.

"So that's why you can only refer to him as 'Thorin the Most Majestic and Magnanimous'."

_Crap. Shite. Buggering bloody Drake and Dragon._

"Kili! Fili! What are you telling the house elf?" Dwalin whipped his head back and forth, from one innocent face to the other.

"We are just informing our new friend on the proper way to refer to Uncle Thorin, oh Great and Noble Dwalin." Fili replied before both brothers let out evil giggles and ran to the back of the group.

"Elf, you will not refer to Thorin in such a manner. You may call him 'Your Majesty' if you wish, but none of this Majestic and Magnanimous business." Dwalin growled out, thinking that he had handled the situation quite well and that the elf would clearly realize the boys were just being boys.

That is, until he felt a little hand pat the top of his head and the elf's squeaky voice reply.

"It's alright Great and Noble Dwalin, the Incredibly Handsome Kili and Extremely Intelligent and Better-Looking Fili explained the situation to Roger. I will of course continue to address The Most Majestic and Magnanimous Thorin in the manner which he deserves, even though you are all unable to properly say the words. Don't worry, Roger will say them for you Great and Noble Dwalin."

_What?! That's not what… just… What?!_

Dwalin always knew that the largest argument of his life would involve an elf. He just didn't expect to be carrying said elf and be placated by the creature as he soundly lost all at the same time.

_Next time, Thorin can carry the damn thing._

* * *

Isabella left Arianna and Thorin, allowing the two to speak alone. They had spent the past two hours telling Thorin as much as they knew about Voldemort: his various tactics, past deeds and anything else that came to mind. Now however, she could tell that they wanted some alone time.

Well, maybe _wanted_ was the wrong word but, only because they didn't know that they wanted alone time. Isabella knew that Arianna needed some time alone with Thorin though, if only because Isabella knew that she needed some time with Kili.

She also knew that the information they had just given Thorin might have been a bit much for the moment. The dwarf king had paid close attention the whole time though- it's hard to be distracted from the conversation that might be giving you pointers on how to keep your people from being killed by a narcissistic egomaniac.

The heavy topic didn't come without its repercussions however, and Isabella felt herself once again dragged down by the situation. Her previous doubts started creeping in, thoughts that had plagued her ever since they decided to stay at Hogwarts to finish their last year.

Isabella would be lying if she said that her relationship, or lack thereof, with her mother didn't affect her view of herself. Most of the time she covered her insecurities with her mischief and wit, but last year she knew that it had been time to grow up. So she shoved the Isabella that loved to laugh and torment old caretakers into a box and created the New her hair cut channeled New Isabella, giving her face a harsher edge which just seemed so fitting.

19 years old and trying to save a world she didn't even know existed until 2 years ago. And now… now she and Arianna were fighting with those who were even younger than her because the adults couldn't figure out how to get their shit together, while at the same time trying to get Thorin and his people their home back. Most of the time it was just overwhelming and the girl often wondered how they were going to survive the confrontation that was surely to come.

Seeing Kili though had brought the Old Isabella back. Somehow he made her feel like anything was possible- that this was just the next prank, the next act of mischief waiting to happen.

And right now, she needed to be near him, so that he can tell her that the world isn't as big as it seems and that it's not all on her shoulders.

* * *

Kili was still laughing over the argument between the red-faced Dwalin and the calm Roger when Isabella fell into step next to him. He took one look at her too-strained-smile and sad eyes before making a small hand motion to Fili that clearly was asking for some alone time.

Fili cast a worried look over at the solemn girl before mumbling something about "Balin" and "fish".

Kili made a mental note to pester his older brother about his lame excuses later. He was a _Durin_ for Mahal's sake, surely he could come up with something better than "fish".

Right now however, he had a witch to cheer up.

"What is wrong my Azinlaz? Did Uncle say something to upset you?"

Isabella gave him a small smile and shook her head. "No, but I believe we may have upset him. Arianna and I were talking about Voldemort and things that he's done before. Thorin thought that the information would help him anticipate any moves the _thing_ might make. And we discussed possible locations for the twin arch. Basically, we talked about a whole lot of nothing and got _no where_."

Kili didn't like the hint of defeat in her voice or the heavy sigh that followed her statement. He grabbed her hand and squeezed, making her stop and look at him.

"Remember when you jumped in front of that warg?" At Isabella's shy nod, he continued. "In that moment, I saw the true you and I want you to know, that you are beautiful, strong and a fighter. I believe that you can do anything my Azinlaz. Never doubt yourself and don't ever give up."

Isabella felt a tear slide down her cheek at his words and Kili reached up a hand to brush it away.

"Thank you." Isabella's voice came out as barely a whisper but Kili heard it anyway. Deciding that it was time to lighten the mood, Kili's face broke into a smile.

"Did I ever tell you about the time Fili and I hid at least 10 frogs in Uncle Thorin's bed?"

Isabella's delighted laugh echoed around the clearing they were now passing through, Kili's animated voice telling her of Thorin's less-than-pleased reaction while his hand still gripped hers in it's comforting grasp.

* * *

They made camp early that evening, with Gandalf promising that they would reach his friend's house about midmorning the next day. The minute it became apparent to Roger that they were settling in for the night, the house elf was off like a shot.

The dwarves and hobbit stood around in shock, more from the fact that the house elf kept disappearing from sight with a pop and then reappearing just as suddenly (and noisily) with armfuls of wood. They also were unable to prevent their shock when, with a sudden snap of his fingers, Roger had a merry fire crackling at the logs, as if it had been burning for ages.

The girls felt 14 pairs of eyes on them as they moved to the fire to sit down as the house elf rushed to his sack to unpack what was left of the food from that day. Smirking, Arianna turned back to the still amazed dwarves and hobbit (Gandalf kept acting like he had experienced this all the time, the old liar) and raised an eyebrow. Isabella was the one that spoke however.

"Sit down. Dwalin, you did tell him that he could do as much as he wanted when we stopped for dinner. He's a house elf for Merlin's sake, what did you all expect? Oh! That reminds me- Roger, you're forbidden from punishing yourself. Understand?"

Roger had stopped at Isabella's command, his green eyes wide as he looked between the two girls, who both wore stern expressions. Quickly, he gave the girls a slight nod before continuing to unpack and warm up the food.

Bilbo, who had started to shuffle towards the fire with the group of dwarves, sat down across from the girls with a confused and worried look.

"Why would you need to say that to him?"

Arianna poked at the fire with a stick before sharing a look with Isabella.

_Do you want to explain?_ her eyes asked.

Isabella gave a minute shake of her head. Arianna sighed before beginning to explain more about the curious little creatures.

"House elves live to please and take such pride and joy in caring for their wizard families, so much so in fact that if they ever feel as if they have failed them, they will punish themselves. Many pure blood families take advantage of their house elves, either by making them live in terrible conditions or making sure they punish themselves for things that shouldn't even warrant a punishment. Perhaps the worst punish for a house elf though, is to be given clothes."

"Clothes?" A deep voice from her side asked- Thorin had sat down next to her while she was speaking and was currently watching the tiny creature as it started to pass out food to all the dwarves. He nodded in thanks as the elf gave him a large plate of food before it moved on to serve Arianna and Isabella.

"Clothes. House elves wear a type of sack, you see. Some of them are old, dirty things that look like pillow cases but, many of the rich and old pure blood families have their elves wear uniforms, such as Roger's right now- although his shows that he's a Hogwarts elf."

"So did he always work at Hogwarts?" This time it was Ori who piped up.

Arianna actually didn't know the answer to that question but, she shook her head furiously, hoping that Ori would pick up on her sign of _be quiet__!_

She and Isabella had never asked Roger that question, knowing that if he had had a family before Hogwarts, then it would have been a terrible thing to remind him of. House elves view being given clothes as a fate worse than death so the girls just avoided the subject entirely.

"Roger used to work for a family. But then Roger burned the Important Dinner and they gave Roger clothes! Roger is a BAD ELF! BAD ROGER!" Everyone jumped at Roger's shrill cry and self-loathing. The house elf had been giving Gandalf, who was farthest away from the fire and last to be served, his food when he started scolding himself and made a mad dash for the fire, his intent to burn himself in punishment clear on his little face.

Dwalin, alarmed by the tiny creature's determination to hurt himself, lunged forward and pulled the little thing on to his lap just before it reached the fire. Cradling the still frantic elf, Dwalin started speaking to it in a low voice, telling him that he wasn't a bad elf, that he was a very _good_ elf.

Both the girls had jumped up upon seeing Roger start running for the fire and were now crowded around Dwalin, trying to take Roger from his arms so they too could comfort the elf.

Unfortunately, they had to settle for rubbing his head and back, as Dwalin's paternal instincts decided to show themselves in that moment. He effectively blocked the girls attempts to take the house elf away and even growled something at them is Khudzul- Arianna assumed it wasn't very polite.

Thorin and Balin exchanged glances and raised eyebrows at the tattooed dwarf's behavior.

* * *

Dwalin was furious. Yes, he had thought that the creature was a burden just this morning, but he had learned since then. But to think that the people that the house elf had cared for had _thrown him aside_ like he was a piece of trash._  
_

Dwalin knew how that had felt. Ever since the fall of Erebor, Men and Elves (well, Elves had looked at them that way even before the fall of Erebor) had looked at him, his Prince, and his kin in the exact same way.

_No creature deserved that, especially not this tiny thing._

* * *

Eventually the tiny creature calmed down enough to look up at Dwalin and actually listen to what he was saying.

"The Great and Noble Dwalin doesn't think that Roger is bad?"

"None of us do Roger." Dwalin assured him. The elf peaked out from behind the dwarf's arms, giving the girls a small smile and then looked at all of the dwarves sitting around the campfire. Finally, his eyes settled on Thorin.

"Even Thorin the Most Majestic and Magnanimous?"

Everyone tried their hardest not to burst out into laughter at the sight of Thorin's shocked face- he and the girls had been in the middle of their conversation during Fili and Kili's mischief and the resulting argument between Dwalin and Roger. Somehow, through an amazing display of control, Thorin managed to school his look of shock into one of sincerity and nodded to the tiny thing.

Smiling brightly, Roger crawled out of Dwalin's lap and started piling some food onto a plate for himself (but not before looking around to make sure that everyone had enough food).

* * *

After everyone finished eating, Roger was having a hard time keeping his eyes open, the excitement from the day and the fact that he had been awake for half a day already back in Hogwarts catching up with him. Quietly, the girls and Bilbo gathered up the dishes and set off to clean them in the nearby stream.

Dwalin laid out his sleeping mat (it had somehow survived Goblin City) and watched as Roger sleepily curled up in the upper left corner of it. The rest of the dwarves either laid out sleeping mats or made beds out of handfuls of the long and sweet-smelling grass that surrounded them.

Thorin offered to take first watch, with Bofur taking second and Balin third.

* * *

That night, an amused Bofur (and Bilbo, who wouldn't admit that he was having difficulty sleeping without the warm comfort of the dwarf next to him) watched as Roger woke up and silently started cleaning Dwalin's weapons before moving around the circle of dwarves, cleaning and sharpening knives, axes, and swords whenever he believed it necessary. Finally he walked up to Bofur and Bilbo, politely requesting if he could tend to the dwarf's mattock and the hobbit's sword.

Smiling his "Bofur smile", the kindly dwarf handed his mattock over to the house elf while the hobbit kept wondering how the tiny thing could lift the dwarven weapons. Nevertheless, he handed over his tiny sword (or letter opener as Balin had called it) when Roger held out his hand for it.

His task finally completed, Roger sleepily walked over to Dwalin's bed roll and curled up on the snoring dwarf's chest, his head tucked down to his knees.

* * *

**Azinlaz = Star**

**So what did everyone think? I couldn't help writing protective!Dwalin... I really couldn't. This ISN'T going to be a Roger/Dwalin story btw!**

**Please review and tell me what you think!**


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